How does a girls guide to college relate to financial planning you might ask?
I’m sure the title of this book caught your eye, especially coming from me. As I am not a girl nor in college. Despite the obstacles I already faced of not being the target audience for this book I decided to read it anyway. I learned of this book mainly because the author (Jess Ekstrom) is a NCSU grad as am I and I recognized her name from her company “Headbands of Hope”. I’ve been in a book reading mood lately so decided to give it a shot.
Sure the dating tips, where to sit in the classroom, parties or studying abroad certainly aren’t topics that are highly relevant to me, but seem to be good items of consideration for her target audience of girls entering college. I typically do try to find some way to apply what I have read and generate ideas that come from it to improve upon various aspects of my life. Was a little stumped with this one, but after thinking about it some more, there are actually quite a few takeaways that I think apply and can apply specifically to your financial life.
1. Have a plan and consider the details
I think an overall theme to this book was having a plan before you jump into something. While there will always be unpredictable events, there are many items you can plan for which will help ease your anxiety and will best prepare you to succeed.
In the book there are many detailed suggestions for preparing for internships, job interviews, and socially interacting on campus. Having a plan for most of my reader’s looks quite different, but the idea of planning and considering the details still applies.
To relate it to financial terms, plan the details of retirement. This means analyzing the different pension or social security options you may have. This means before withdrawing money, make sure you are making the most tax efficient move. Make sure your investment strategy is based off of thorough research and that you stay disciplined in times of volatility. Without planning and taking time to consider the details you may find yourself falling off track to achieve your goals or not even on the track to begin with!
2. A successful financial plan looks different for each individual
Jess ends her book with two chapters titled “Find Your Own Success” and “Establish Personal Goals”. I often have clients ask “How am I doing for someone like me?” Someone like who though?? Someone that makes $100k? Has 3 kids? Someone that is starting a new job? Someone that is sending their kids to college? Someone that is contemplating retirement?
My point is there are no two clients that are the same and therefore what may be a successful plan for one isn’t necessarily a successful plan for another. You have to determine what your personal financial goals are and what it would take to achieve those goals is what makes a successful financial plan. As a financial planner, our job is to implement recommendations that help achieve your personal financial goals, not to make sure you are doing okay for someone “like you”.
For many of you reading this, you can take aspects of this book as well as many other books and apply the lessons learned to your financial lives. For the specific lessons this book is intended for, I do recommend to share it with your children or grandchildren that are preparing to enter college!
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