Summary of advice to young people

When we were first married, Richard was a bank teller and I was a full-time student.  I worked part-time at the purchasing department of Brigham Young University, where I attended school.  We didn't have much.  Eventually I had to quit my part-time job and student teach.  Rich's hours were cut back at his job, so he was working only part-time and trying to support us.  It was rough.  Before we were married though, he purchased a life insurance policy so during those most difficult times, we still had to pay our life insurance premiums.  They were due every six months as I recall, and for the month that they were due, we had to go without food in order to pay that life insurance premium.  I thought we were crazy for doing so, but it was the grown-up thing to do, so we did it. Fortunately for us, we had a little food storage, which sustained us.

Paying that life insurance was a huge sacrifce when we were first married.  There were not social programs like there are now, or we didn't apply for them.  In any case, we didn't receive assistance from the government. I actually talked to Richard about getting assistance for our heat bills in the winter and he said that his boss would have to fill out paperwork to verify his income, and he was not going to do that. He didn't want his boss to know how much we were struggling. So, we made it without the help.  I bring this up only for one reason.  People say they cannot afford insurance. We couldn't afford insurance, but we paid for it anyway.  It is part of being an adult.

Life went on for us and eventually Richard became an engineer and had a good job.  We purchased a significant amount of life insurance as well as accidental death and dismemberment insurance, disability insurance (short term and long term), medical insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, etc. We also put money into investments for retirement.  If you get it when you get the job, you don't notice it gone from your paycheck.

Get an education and/or trade early in your lives so that you are able to support yourselves. Don't feel you can rely on social programs.  They come and go with political winds.  You are the one that is responsible to provide for you, no one else. My best advice is to have at least two different careers or skills that you can use to provide for you in case for some reason, one of them is not possible.  I will write a post about this at a future time.

Stay out of debt. Don't get roped into monthly payments that you cannot get out of.  You may regret it if you end up without a job.  All of those nice things to have are not worth you loosing everything.

Don't go on trips you cannot pay cash for. Don't spend future money on anything. Stay out of debt.

Buy the insurance. Buy life insurance so your family doesn't have to pay to bury you, and if you are a breadwinner, your spouse will not be destitute.  Buy health insurance so if you were to get into a tragic situation, you don't go bankrupt.  Buy income insurance.  Buy disability insurance.  Buy accidental death and dismemberment insurance.  Buy cancer insurance. Of course, auto insurance is required by law, so that is a given.  The cost of these insurances are minimal, and the benefits are enormous.  Especially life insurance.  Everyone dies.

Go to an attorney and get wills and other important legal paperwork in place.  Make sure that you are medical power of attorney for your spouse, and that they are for you.

Put part of your salary into a retirement account every paycheck.  The more you put in, the better off you will be.  If your employer matches what you put in to a certain percentage, put as much into that account as you can, the max that they will match if possible. Don't count on Social Security to support you through your retirement, because it may not be there. What then?

One insurance that we didn't have that I wish we would have is supplemental insurance, like AFLAC.  It pays you for the days in the hospital over and above any other insurance that you have.  It would have been a life saver for us.

I know that my situation is not typical, but it is reality.  We never know how life is going to turn out.  I hate insurance companies.  I hate dealing with them and arguing with them, but I would not ever like to do without them.  If you have questions about how to save money, I recommend Dave Ramsey's books.  I wish I would have found them when I was young.  We haven't done too bad, but we could have done better.  You can always do better.

Think like an adult, because you are one.