Ready to transform your life? On “Financial Freestyle with Ross Mac,” we dig into the DMs for a segment called “Dear Mac” where we answer your pressing questions. Our audience DM of the week: ”What’s the first thing I should do… to be financially successful?” Today’s expert advice comes from TIAA Chief Administrative Officer Derek Ferguson, who emphasizes budgeting, saving, and investing for your future self. Ross Mac adds on by cautioning, “stop spending money we don’t have for things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.”

For more words of wisdom on “Financial Freestyle with Ross Mac," listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.

This post was written by Jimi Corpuz

Video Transcript

I often say like the greatest equalizer is the exposure gap, right?

And the fact that you were exposed to the stock market at a young age, the fact that your Children are exposed to your wealth of knowledge that comes from generation to generation, that's why we do it right?

And obviously here on financial freestyle, the goal is to just help educate, right?

Because so often financial literacy is taboo, right?

We don't talk about it nearly enough.

And one of the things that I do is I pose a question to the audience, right?

It's called Dear Mac and I'm gonna pose it to you, right?

We have Snook 15.

Snook 15 said, what's the first thing I should do to get it going to be financially successful.

So what advice would you have for snook?

So the first thing is a lot of people miss this is live on a budget, understand how much money you're bringing in and how you're spending it.

And sometimes it's like you think you have it in your head or maybe you care to have it in your head, put it down on paper, write it down, get a spreadsheet you know, uh Excel spreadsheet break down your budget and you have to save, right?

So in your budget like yes, put your money in your 401k and then you have to save something.

So like a lot of people, well, I can't afford this.

I, you know, I, I gotta spend this money because I need to have this.

Well, do you need to have that?

Yeah, or if you sacrifice that for a short amount of time, it's gonna be of great benefit to you.

So first have your budget and know what you're living on.

If you, if you're living with zero savings, just know it because a lot of people running around like I don't know why I don't have any money, what you're spending it all, you know what I mean?

Let's do the math.

You just spent everything anyway.

So no, no, no, do do your budget and, and by the budget then it's again, join get, get in your employer uh retirement plan.

And the third thing is start understanding marketplace, you know, like the, you know, the, the advent of tools like the Robin Hood app and shows like, you know, you're all, all, all, all of what you share on a daily basis.

I watch you with your kids every, every morning, you know what I mean?

And a lot of other uh uh other people sharing now at, at, at a clip that we've never seen, just start dipping your toe in the water.

Start simple.

You know what I mean?

Start simple, you know, with, with the ETF S and, and, and funds that are, you know, that are kind of doing the work for you.

Then as you learn more, you know, learn more and grow and make sure you're balancing your wrist, but you gotta start, learn it, start and the earlier you start, the better, the earlier you start, the better you gotta control your inflows, right?

You gotta know your inflows and outflows.

People quite so often are spending money that they don't have, right?

Buying things we don't need with the money we don't have to impress people we don't like and so start with that budget.

Start investing, right?

I always say you gotta pay your future self.