• Working on an Insider series to help millennials take control of their finances has changed my relationship with money.
• This year, I met with a financial planner for the first time to start making progress.
• I made significant strides with my emergency fund and invested in my retirement plan and cryptocurrency.
• This article is part of a series focused on millennial financial empowerment called Master Your Money.

I started working on Insider’s personal finance series for millennials, Master Your Money, shortly after I moved from my hometown of Los Angeles, California to Brooklyn, New York in 2019. I had $4,000 in my account, barely any savings, and no retirement savings. Plus, I was barely affording my bills every month. 

Master Your Money empowered me with so much knowledge, and after an unpredictable 2020, I decided to put that information to work and enlist the help of a Certified Financial Planner.

That decision helped me grow my emergency fund, expand my investment portfolio, and put me on track to retire comfortably — here’s how.

My financial planner helped me figure out my goals and how to achieve them

Before I started working on Master Your Money, I didn’t know what a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) was — it sounded expensive and hard to find. At the start of 2021, I was struggling to make financial goals. I knew I wanted a safety net and some money to play with, but I had no clue how I was actually going to get there.

Fortunately, my employer invested in a new financial wellness benefit with Facet Wealth, making it easier to find one. I was able to get a financial planner, Raman Singh, and more hands-on help with my money, without spending a lot.

We worked together over several sessions to understand what I wanted and developed a six-month plan to accomplish by the end of the year. The plan included more retirement investments through a 401(k) and a Roth IRA, while also thinking ahead to bigger purchases, like buying a house.

This was a great test to see how dedicated I was to reaching my goals. I’m happy to say I passed this test and I’m on a great path to getting the financial independence I want. 

High-yield savings accounts grew my money with minimal effort

Last year, I wrote that I had about two months of expenses saved. Since then, my expenses changed a lot. 

I’ve moved twice, both times to a more expensive apartment than the last. …….

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/working-with-financial-planner-saving-investing-2021-12