In these past five years, I've made enough mistakes (and had a few wins) to know what I wish someone had told me earlier.

If you are in your early 20s reading this, consider this your older sibling giving you the real talk.

You wouldn't skip brushing your teeth for months, right? Or at least I hope you won’t. Anyways, the same energy needs to go toward your money. Saving is a habit. Budgeting is a habit. Investing is a habit.

TBH - everything is a habit.

Don't wait until "life settles down" to get started because lowkey it never really does. Just like working out, consistency beats intensity every single time.

➡️ Start simple: Automate a $50 transfer to savings, track just one spending category (maybe those coffee runs), and check your net worth once a month. That's it.

Lose the "all or nothing" mindset because small wins compound into freedom.

Now you might think you need to save $500 a month or it wasn't worth it. Meanwhile, someone who started with $25 weekly transfers at 21 will have $8,000 saved by 24 while you are still "planning to start soon."

Your 20s are basically a financial laboratory. Explore every money tool, side hustle, or investment style that catches your attention. Budgeting apps, freelancing, real estate investing, index funds, and crypto. You should experiment before life gets complicated with mortgages, kids, and other things that life will throw at you.

➡️ Reminder: You don't need your "forever plan" at 22. Just don't let fear of being lost keep you from making moves.

The earlier you try, the faster you learn what actually aligns with your personality and goals.

I tried everything from sneaker reselling (not too bad) to freelance graphic design (mid) to crypto trading (expensive lesson). Each "failure" taught me something valuable about my risk tolerance and what I actually enjoyed doing.

This might sound weird, but hear me out. Unplug from all the noise. No finance podcasts, no TikTok money gurus, no get-rich-quick hype. Just you, your goals, and your actual numbers.

➡️ Try this: Take yourself on a "Money Walk" once a week. No phone, just walk and reflect on how you spent, saved, or invested that week. What felt good? What felt stupid? What patterns do you notice?

Silence creates clarity. Clarity builds discipline. Discipline builds wealth.

Most people are following someone else's financial advice without ever figuring out what they actually want their money to do for them. These solo reflection sessions changed everything for me.

Buy the course. Hire the coach. Get the certification. Use the premium budgeting app that actually works for you.

Time is your most valuable asset – wasting it by trying to do everything yourself will cost you more in opportunity cost than the upfront investment ever could.

➡️ Reminder: The right investment in your education or tools can return 10x in confidence, clarity, and cash flow.

I spent weeks trying to build my own website when I could have just paid $40 for template and saved myself countless hours of frustration.

Sometimes the "free" route is the most expensive.

5. Challenge the Beliefs That Are Keeping You Broke

This is the big one. A lot of smart, capable people stay broke because they're operating from limiting beliefs they don't even realize they have:

"I'm just bad with money."

"Money is evil."

"Rich people are greedy."

"I'll never afford that anyway."

"I don't make enough to invest."

Start questioning those stories. Your financial future depends on the beliefs you hold just as much as the habits you build.

➡️ Reflection exercise: Write down every negative thought you have about money for one week. Then ask yourself: "Is this actually true, or is this just a story I've been telling myself?"

Growth starts where resistance lives.

The craziest part? Most of these beliefs aren't even yours – they're inherited from family, friends, or society. Once you start recognizing them, you can start rewriting them.

Your 20s are when small decisions create massive compound effects. The habits you build now, the beliefs you challenge, and the experiments you run will literally shape the next decade of your life.

Don't wait for the "perfect" moment. Start messy, start small, but start now.

One of the best things I've done in my 20s is learning to learn fast, fail fast, and try again all over. This iterative process has allowed me to gain knowledge and build grit with any endeavor I embark on - whether business or physical.

Now some losses might be expensive or cost you a lot of time. But the worst loss is when it impacts you mentally. I've taken losses that shot my confidence, hurt my ego, and made me question my own future.

But what I soon came to realize is that it is all noise.

You fucked up, you failed, and now you need to move on. In life there are peaks and valleys. The highs are high and the lows will feel really low. You just have to focus on keeping going and staying locked in on that end goal.

Growth is constant iteration.

Constant iteration of: make mistake, learn, optimize, move to next mistake.

As long as you keep doing this quickly, nothing can stop you in your lane. Stay in your lane and keep growing - no one else knows it better than you.

Alright.

We've been hearing about crypto for the past 10+ years but now things are starting to get serious. The biggest issue with crypto actually being the future has been implementation.

How will society (everyday people, young and old) be able to access crypto? When crypto started, you needed to remember secret passwords, stuff wasn't regulated, and the fees for making transactions were sky high.

But soon - none of that will exist anymore.

PNC Bank has announced a strategic partnership with Coinbase. Through Coinbase's institutional Crypto-as-a-Service platform, PNC customers will be able to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their PNC accounts, without leaving the bank's digital environment.

Long story short - PNC is using Coinbase to help their customers access crypto.

So what happens next? Well -

FYI - none of those 5 bullets are guaranteed, but they are just strong convictions I have.

Lets check back in 5 years and see how well those 5 bullets perform.

Luv,
Luv