However healthy your bank balance looks, chances are – like all of us – you’re clinging on to a financial regret, or two. From not paying into a pension pot early enough to not saving enough for a rainy day, it’s easy to look back on past money mistakes with a wince.
Barclays LifeSkills is a free service designed to change all that, ensuring young people hone their money management skills from a young age, and giving them the knowledge to help them progress in life.
Here, five people tell us about the financial advice they’d give to their younger selves.
‘Investing isn’t complicated – your money will work harder for you’
I started investing last year during the pandemic. I’d read books and blogposts about investing and became more interested after a friend mentioned their own investments. However, it was only last year when I actually had some spare cash to invest (since I wasn’t spending as much as I normally would) that I thought I’d try. I started by investing £1,000 and now I wish I’d started sooner as my stocks and shares Isa is currently performing well (the blogs I read point out that investments go down as well as up and I may not get back the amount I put in). Although I’ve always been an avid saver, investing felt quite alien to me. People tend to find the idea of investing complicated, but it’s really not. Ola Majekodunmi, 24, London
‘Learn to save before you spend and stick to a monthly budget’
We bought our first home two years ago, although we haven’t yet moved in because of renovation problems. We’ve learned a lot during the process – firstly, save before you spend.
When we were saving up for a deposit, we got into the habit of moving a large chunk of our monthly pay into savings accounts immediately, which made us really consider before making larger purchases since you have to make the effort to move money out again to do so.
And while a home is probably the most expensive thing you’ll ever purchase, it quickly becomes much more expensive if you uncover problems once it’s yours. We sadly uncovered many and ended up taking out loans to cover unexpected costs. I wish we’d been prepared for extra costs, as they quickly add up. I’d also recommend only using your credit card for house “needs”, not for “wants”. Abbie Roberts, 27, and Richard Leese, 29, Cannock
‘Embrace the side hustle’
If I could give a piece of advice to my younger self, it would be not to rely on your salary alone – find other ways to earn income as well.
In 1988, my wife and I had to buy a new fridge-freezer and washing machine, which we struggled to pay off. A pay rise in my IT job wasn’t possible, so I sought out other forms of income such as writing book reviews and doing interviews for local papers. I even entered a TV game show and won £1,200. And we eventually managed to pay off the debt.
Even now, I earn income in various ways to supplement my pension – from writing children’s books to being my town’s local Santa at Christmas.
I also wish I’d started putting spare cash into FTSE100 shares rather than buying unnecessary “things” we didn’t need. It’s like friends who follow the Fire (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement say: “Time in the market is more important than timing the market.” Michael Facherty, 70, Caversham
‘Start saving sooner ... and why I didn’t need designer bags’
I was a teenage mum at 19 – my son and I actually lived in a hostel before I enrolled at university [in 2009] and we were moved to temporary accommodation. While studying, I had no clue about managing my money or student loan. I went out too much and overspent on things like designer clothes and bags (one Louis Vuitton tote cost over £1,000, which I feel sick about now). I even bought flights to America for a holiday with my last loan payment, trying to “keep up” with other people. Because I had no idea how to look after my money, I quickly fell behind on rent and got into about £7,000 of debt (not including my student loan). I feel awful now as the money could have been used for my children’s [Makai, 14, Micah, six, and Desire, three] futures. Getting out of debt meant working several jobs and took four years. Now, my children have piggy banks and Isas, and I run Elevate Her UK, a non-profit set up to help educate young girls. I hope other people can learn from my mistakes. Ebony King, 32, Barking and Dagenham
To find out more about teaching money skills to your family, visit barclayslifeskills.com
