3 Things We Wish We Knew 10 Years Ago

What would you tell your younger self about money? In this episode of Coffee with Waymark, Brendan and the Waymark team share the financial advice they wish they'd had 10 years ago. Watch now and see what a decade of experience can teach you.

Find out:

• Why how much you save matters more than how much you make

• How credit card rewards programs are designed to benefit the card companies—not you

• Why "boring," low-cost, diversified portfolios often outperform alternative investments

Brendan:

 Hey, thanks for joining us for another Coffee with Waymark. Today we're going to repeat a similar format that we did the last Coffee with Waymark, where we're actually gonna have all three of us chime in on one topic. For today's topic, we're going to talk about financial advice that we wish we had had 10 years ago.

Now, each one of us is 10 years apart from the other, so I think it will be interesting to hear, what Hanifa knew or wanted should have known at age 21 versus me at age 41 when it was 10 years ago for me. So we'll start with Hanifa and see what she wished she knew 10 years ago. 

Hanifa:

Yeah. At the age of 21, I wish I knew that it's not necessarily about how much money you make, but about how much you save.

I think at 21, you're just starting out in your career. Might be an internship, first job, whatever it is, you're not really making a lot of money. But when you add up all these little expenses, whether it's Ubers or Door Dash or whatever it is, those add up very quickly. And something I realized at that age is that a lot of people like to blame it on, “Okay, if I make more money, I can save more.” They kind of take the personal aspect out of it. They remove themselves from the situation.

We've seen so many examples of people making really good money and not really having a lot to show for it. And then we've also seen the opposite, where someone might just be making below the median or average amount and they have a lot saved. So that's one thing that I wish I knew 10 years ago is save more and don't necessarily focus on how much you're making. 

Brendan:

Excellent. Good advice. Brandon, what do you got from your tender age of 31? What would you have told your 31-year-old self?

Brandon:

I would say that the credit card companies don't offer reward points out of the kindness of their hearts.

Meaning, you know, they know they're gonna get their money back one way or another. They're just trying to entice you to use the card more, and they know statistically, if you put something on a credit card, you are way more likely to spend more money than if you were to just use your debit card or – dare I say, cash – to actually make a purchase. So they know that well in advance and it's much easier to rack up that credit card debt than it is to get out of it. So I would say stay out of credit cards, even though you tell yourself, “I'm just gonna pay it off,” or “I pay it off each month.” Even if you pay it off each month, the credit card company is still winning.

They also have the flexibility to change what those points actually mean and keep that in mind a point today might not mean a point tomorrow or a dollar for tomorrow. So be very wise when using a credit card. 

Brendan:

Got it. Good advice there too. And for me, I would've told my 41-year-old self, don't get too enamored with alternative investments. 

So what I mean by that is it seems like what I've learned over the past 10 years is that the tried and true, boring, low cost, diversified portfolios typically outperform those that are, you know, more sexy. 

So – whether it's a long short fund, or a real estate investment fund, or a business development company – all of those have really, really good stories, but I feel like it was a lot more sizzle and not as much steak. There was a lot of marketing speak around those types of investments, but when you just took a look at how they compared to just a traditionally managed portfolio, they usually underperformed. So a lot of times boring is a lot better than sexy.

So that's what we have for today. Hopefully you'll take at least one of those nuggets and be able to apply it to your own personal situation. And remember, thanks again for joining us and remember to be well and do good.

Brendan is the Managing Director for Waymark Wealth Management. He has extensive experience in comprehensive wealth management. His focus includes retirement planning, behavioral finance, investment portfolio construction, education funding, insurance & risk management, taxes, charitable giving, and estate planning. Brendan has an ability to take clients' complex visions and distill them down to simple action plans, helping them move from where they are today to where they want to be tomorrow.

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