A Millennial’s Guide to Becoming a Millionaire (Chapter 1: Taking a Breather & Asking for Help)

Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor. The ideas presented in this book and all the coming articles are personal opinions and for entertainment purposes only. You (and only you) are responsible for the financial decisions that you make.

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First off, I would like to note that I am an incredibly fortunate individual to have had the life I have had so far. I have a loving family, a roof over my head, food on the table, had the opportunity to get a higher education, and had a well-paying job right out of college on the world’s grandest stage, New York City. I’m telling you this because I had everything that I needed, but mentally and fiscally, I was struggling. This book is a memoir on how I got on my path to becoming a millionaire, and a guide on how you can too.

I graduated from Saint Joseph’s University with a dual degree in Accounting and Analytics. While I had these fancy degrees in crunching numbers and making fancy graphs, I came into the real world — the working world — with only a couple of dollars to my name and no knowledge around how to manage it.

Soon after graduation, I moved to New York City to start my job as a software consultant at PwC, one of the Big Four accounting firms, and like many recent grads, I was absolutely lost. In addition to getting used to my new job, I was also getting adjusted to the real world. I soon started to see all types of bills come in: expensive New York utilities, New York rent, and student loans to name a few. For the first several months out of college, I didn't even know how to pay my federal student loans let alone where to find them. Having absolutely no knowledge on student loans did not help[1]. Having only a couple of dollars to my name made it worse, and I couldn’t even make first month’s rent.

These times were tough on my heart and soul. I remember skipping meals just to get by sometimes, but in times of doubt, I remind myself that I have the best support system anyone could ask for and it is important for you to establish yours. These were my humble beginnings, and these types of beginnings are typical of the recent college grad. Being thrown to the wolves was my first lesson and my enlightenment on my need for money management. Learning to plan and take control of my money, I now have the financial freedom I never thought I could gain, and I am on my way to making my first million.

My first piece of advice: take a breather. While the world may seem like it is going a million miles an hour, the fact is, life is not going anywhere. When it comes to your finances, you will need to set your own goals and do what is best for you. When dealing with money and learning how to tame the beast, you will need to be relaxed, learn how it functions, and learn what feeds the beast and makes it thrive.

Back in New York of 2017, after having looked at my massive debt, I soon realized that I needed a plan and decided that a budget would help me best. After doing all my analysis one thing was for certain, I was not going to make August rent. It was my first month in New York City and I was already going to get evicted! What a great start to post-grad life, right?

My second piece of advice: ask and you shall receive. After having realized I would not make August rent, I asked my landlord if I could hand my first month’s rent with my second, pleading that it will not happen again and that this was only due to insufficient cash flow[2]. Without any further remark, he gave me a smile and said, “no worries.” The worst that can come out of a question is someone telling you “No,” however, you have absolutely nothing to lose.

Dear reader, take it slow and be courageous. The last thing you want to do is burnout in the game of life.

Footnotes

[1] For those curious, you can find where your loans are serviced by/how you can pay your federal student debt via studentaid.gov

[2] It’s ok if you’re not an accounting nerd like I am. Personal finance takes time and persistence and in no-time, you’ll be speaking like a Grade A Finance Professional. Cash flow is exactly as it sounds. It is the flow of cash from the perspective of the individual/entity in which the cash is given/received.