The year was 2005. It was my first (ever) job in the USA. I didn’t speak a lot of English, but I was going to college, so my written English was better. To make matters worse, I was going to be working as a cashier. That meant talking to a lot of customers. Oh, not to forget that I had to learn the names & codes for all produce items. Every shift was a straggle. But I made it and improved my communication skills along the way.
Lesson #1: do it scared. You will never know how much you can handle unless you push past your fears. This applies to your finances as well.
A couple months in, I talked to HR and they mentioned that I was eligible to participate in the company’s 401K and stock option plans. I didn’t know what that was but thank God the HR emphasized how important it was to save for retirement. She said: “just do the minimal (it was 3%) you won’t notice it”. And that’s exactly what I did: 3% pre-tax contribution and I received a 3% employer match. I didn’t look at my retirement account for years. One day, a coworker said he had exercised his stock options and made money. A light bulb went off: what was stock options, did I have any and could I sell and make money? I logged in to my Fidelity account for the first time in years and…
My 401K had grown, And my employer granted me some stock options!
Lesson #2: just start. Whether you want to save, invest or get out of debts, you have to start somewhere. Your actions today determines what your tomorrow will look like. Don’t underestimate the power of small steps.
Lesson#3: ask questions/ educate yourself. People leave free money on the table because they don’t know how to claim it. Each state has a database of properties that belong to residents but those residents never claimed them. (I searched the MD database, no one owes me anything)?
Fast forward to 2015 when I transferred my 401K to my IRA, it was over $10K. It might not seem like a lot of money, but it’s significant considering I worked full time at the grocery store for only 4 years and I wasn’t making much as a cashier. The good thing about this is that I did not have to save $10K to have $10K: my contributions + employer match (free $$) + stock option gains (free $$) + investment return (free $$) gave me the $10,000.
Lesson#4: let your money grow (leave it alone/don’t touch it). There was a recession in 2007-2009, but as always, the stock market bounced back. Don’t panic and withdraw your investment when times get tough.
“The big money is not in the buying or selling, but in the waiting” Charlie Munger
