Happy New Year!
Happy New Year my dear readers–all eight of you! First of all, thank you.
There’s always this awkward phase when you embark on a new project, when your idea is still half-baked; you don’t necessarily know what you’re doing until you’re already committed. That’s the thing about starting something new, you usually have to leap before you know where you’ll land.
So thank you for watching me leap and letting me fall with grace.
As is new year custom, let us take stock of the past year and set our new year resolutions.
On New Year’s Resolutions
First, I want to apologize for immediately spoiling this tradition.
Many years ago, I made a new year’s resolution to not wait until the new year to make a change. Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems this sentiment is increasingly common. Maybe it’s from the pandemic, maybe the economy, or maybe it’s just my circle of friends now starting families, deep into their careers and competing priorities, that having watched year after year of new year’s resolutions go bust before February first, it may seem frivolous to even try. I get that.
I’m certainly not saying it’s frivolous to resolve to make a positive change in your life. I’m acknowledging that starting that positive change at the beginning of year will not make it any easier.
Recently, I had a leader at work remind us that, on any difficult journey, motivation will be the first thing to die. Once it’s gone, we must rely on discipline and a strong purpose to carry us through to our goal. Discipline meaning habit, or until then, sheer force of will, to do something small that we definitely don’t want to do, in order to get us one step closer to something big that we truly believe in. Our purpose being the thing that gives our life meaning–something powerful enough to make those small, difficult steps bearable. Something intrinsically motivating enough to make us lean forward when we believe we cannot go one more step.
Whatever your resolution may be, on new years or otherwise, consider how it reinforces your purpose before the motivation wears off. Be prepared to fall back on discipline, or at least habit, when it does.
On The Past Year
As for my past year, it was a big year.
Is there such a thing as a “no big deal year” anymore? I’m not sure if I’ve ever had one of those, even before the pandemic, even as a kid. This year was no different in my transition and in my financial journey.
As you may have read in my story, my financial journey began the summer before my senior year of college when I read a Robert Kiyosaki book–yes, I know, it’s so cliche–and was introduced to the concept of financial independence, especially early financial independence. In this concept, I found a purpose worth striving for: freedom. The freedom to say “no” to a job, to an employer, even to an abusive spouse. The freedom to stay or walk away on my terms.
As expected, the motivation has certainly ebbed and flowed, but my purpose is so deeply rooted that discipline, and now habit, have completely taken over. Every year has been a slow–often painfully so–journey toward my financial independence goals. In the beginning, progress was so pitiful, my goal often seemed hopeless. Over time though, every pitiful step–starting an individual brokerage account with $50 a month to sending an extra $200 to my student loans–grew into real gains.
Now ten years into this journey, there is no chance, no fear of turning back. In fact, I’m doubling down and making brand new, tiny moves.
1. Starting a Finance Blog
Starting a finance blog was perhaps my biggest move of 2023. In this early phase, believe me, it feels quite demoralizing. It takes many hours of research and writing for no pay, the competition is fierce, and to tell my story I must be vulnerable. In many ways, it’s downright icky to expose myself to the world as if my experiences and ideas are worthy of an audience.
But perhaps the right audience. When my motivation wanes, I must remind myself of my purpose: to share financial insights and stories to transitioning service members so their transition may be just a little easier. If nothing else, then when my Airmen asks me about one of their benefits, I can say, “Actually I wrote a whole post about this!”–complete with accessible, elaborate infographics and reliable, government links.
No matter the future, this is my repository for my fellow service members–no matter how few–who are kind enough to read it.
2. Opening a HYSA
I have been in the market for a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) for many more years than I’m proud to admit. Finally, in 2023, I opened my first HYSA after a recommendation from a friend and fellow financial enthusiast.
While this is not an endorsement, and there are several other reputable HYSAs on the market, I will share I opened mine with First Foundation Bank, an FDIC insured account with 5% APY.
I have been wanting to open a HYSA for years because of the obvious benefits–a liquid savings account capable of earning enough interest, while still modest, to mitigate inflation. I’m not sure which purchase will be next–a new (used) car, a larger stock market investment during a downturn, or perhaps a property–but it sure is nice to have some liquid assets to take full financial advantage of a, say, market recession. We’ll see.
Plus, it’s definitely motivating to see the interest immediately deposited into my account every month. If you are in search of some modest, short-term gains to give you a little boost of motivation, I definitely recommend a HYSA.
3. Opening a 529 College Savings Plan
This year, I also opened my very first 529 college savings plan. Technically I opened two, one with a brokerage and then one with my state, once I realized the potential, additional tax advantages of a state 529 plan. It’s still on my to-do list to rollover and close the brokerage 529 plan. One day.
This move took me by surprise. For the longest time, I thought 529 savings plan were for your children’s education. While this is true, I recently learned you can use it for your OWN education, even to pay off your own, existing student loans. If by chance you don’t use all of it for education, there are also some options to roll a limited amount into your IRA. I recommend reading my post, How To Use a 529 Account for Your Own Education for all the fine print–and there is fine print.
While I won’t be making major monthly contributions, it will be nice to reap some tax advantages while I’m investing toward a future degree.
Conclusion
All of my 2023 financial moves are relatively small decisions–some as small as opening a single account with $100 a month. Great things usually start with a small, innocuous decision, though. We often won’t realize the full benefit of those decisions, until we’ve already committed. As always, do your homework and consult a professional, but once you’ve done your due diligence, don’t forget to commit!
In the beginning, the excitement, the promise of success will provide sufficient motivation. But know, motivation will be the first to fade. Especially in transitions and financial goals, the journey will often be a slow drudgery. As they say, if investing is boring, you’re probably doing it right. When this moment comes, you’ll have to rely on your purpose and your discipline to achieve that goal.
January will come every year, whether you’re ready or not. Two, five, ten years will pass whether you resolve to make a positive change or not. At some point, we all must confront these questions: Do we want to spend the next ten years pretending the future will never come? Or do we have the conviction in our purpose to believe our small steps will one day lead us to our wilder goals and the discipline to keep leaning forward when the motivation has long disappeared?
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