129. Money Moves You Should Copy, and the Ones to Avoid ft Kennie Bukky

We’ve all copied money advice we thought would make us rich — but what if it’s actually keeping you broke?

In this episode, Kia is joined by Kennie Bukky, finance expert and money strategist, to separate the smart moves from the scams. From the worst financial advice that still goes viral, to the habits that quietly build wealth over time, Kennie is here to cut through the noise.

💡 We get into:

• The biggest money myths keeping Gen Z and Millennials broke
• Why “looking rich” and being rich are two completely different things
• The simple money changes that instantly improve your finances
• How to filter financial advice when everyone online claims to be an expert
• The 3 things you should prioritise with money in your 20s

Plus, we play Rich or Ridiculous, debating everything from Buy Now Pay Later to quitting your job to become a content creator.

This episode will make you rethink the money moves you copy, helping you finally start building wealth on your own terms.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Myth Busting
• 3:25 Unlearning Bad Money Mindsets
• 9:38 Career Optimization as a Wealth Strategy
• 18:54 Practical Salary Negotiation Advice
• 24:40 Three Financial Priorities for Your 20s
• 30:15 Rich or Ridiculous Money Decisions

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to the Penalty Sponsored Podcast, the finance podcast. That actually makes sense. If you've ever asked yourself why didn't they teach us this at school? Or how do I get my money up without giving up the things that I love, you're in the right place. We dispel the myths, simplify the jargon and give you the playbook to build wealth on your own terms, because money moves fast and it's time that yours kept up. Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you've had an amazing weekend.

Speaker 1: 0:23

We are back with another great episode. We are talking all things careers and wealth building, and I'm super excited because I have got someone who was just killing it on social media at the moment when it comes to careers, who's had their own change within careers and is teaching us all the things that we need to know around careers and wealth building. So, without further ado, guest, who are you? Hi, kia, hello, good to be here on your sofa. And yes, so I'm Kenny, kenny Bookie, as I'm known online. So I am a compliance officer in the fintech space actually. So I've got a background in banking and finance. I've worked at a startup, big big four and then fintech, um, so I've currently I took a career break actually a couple of years ago to focus um more so on my social media, um kind of platform where I talk about all things like personal finance, but with a real focus on careers and wealth building and using your career and your skills to build wealth right, especially when you're, as someone who comes from a background like most of us, don't really come from money or anything like that. So my whole focus is using what you can and the resources and your skills to start to really build wealth and build a life that you love. I think it's incredible and, watching you online, it was a no-brainer to get you on here and talk about all things careers and wealth building because who better to have the conversation with?

Speaker 1: 1:49

I'll try my best. It's gonna be great. But, kenny, just to just to get you ready, we have our 60 second myth buster. That's how we start with every episode. I'm gonna put six seconds on the clock and I have a clock in front of me, okay, and there are five questions, five questions. I I'm going to ask these five questions. What you need to do is answer as many of them as you can in that time frame. Okay, is that right or wrong? No, it's whatever. You think you got six seconds. There's five questions. Get through as many as you can. Cool ready. Let's go three, two, one so owning a home is better than renting? Yes, why? Because when you retire, why do you still want to keep paying rent? Brilliant, stop owning it and paying it off. Brilliant, you have to cut back on everything to save money. No, why, you have to still like. Life is for living and you have to prioritise the things that you love, but also decide where you're going to aggressively cut back on saving money and focus on what actually moves the needle.

Speaker 1: 2:44

Love that Investing is only for the rich. No, of course not. No, why? Because you can start with quite low amounts and it's a skill that you build up and you can't actually get rich without investing in something. Love that Credit cards are bad full stop.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Oh no, they're not bad full stop. No, they can be bad if you misuse them, but when used wisely, they're actually very good and they put you in a position to be able to get credit, which can change your life. Amazing, access to credit is very important. Five seconds If you earn more money, your money problems disappear? No, of course not. Most people that are high earners actually live paycheck to paycheck perfect, perfect. We managed to get that in.

Speaker 1: 3:22

That was good. Love that. How was that? Was that good? Yeah, it was good. That's intense, though. You got me thinking on my feet. I know I like thinking on my feet, I love it.

Speaker 1: 3:29

Every time I watch the guests do it, I'm always like I don't know how you guys do that. I get stressed out. I'm just asking the questions. I'm not starting, I can't do it, but you, you have like a pro that you are. So thank you so much. We're going to get into the main bit of the podcast now.

Speaker 1: 3:45

So my first question to you is do you believe that everyone is actually ready to build wealth, or do some people need to unlearn some things first? Yes, I think I had to definitely unlearn some things, and I think mindset is the first step to really starting to build that wealth, because, first of all, you have to believe that you can actually do the thing. Like there's a there's a level of, I think, self-confidence that needs to be built for you to follow through with the actions that are needed to build wealth. Like understanding, like okay, I need to start budgeting and actually being consistent with that and actually even just learning about money, like okay, how does money work? Basics right. I think it's important to understand the mindset first and get your mind right before you start to do something as big as building wealth, because it sounds like I can imagine the idea of building wealth can sound quite intimidating. I think it sounds so overwhelming if you don't know where to start. I mean, if someone says, right, you need to start building wealth, and I think there is this misconception that wealth is just like massive things, like assets, like I need to buy a house then, or I need to do something massive, when you can actually start on a small scale, yes, exactly.

Speaker 1: 4:51

So let me ask you then you mentioned that you had to unlearn some stuff first. What are some of the things that you believe, whether it's your yourself that you have to do, yeah, or you think people that you've come across need to unlearn 100%? I'll definitely start with myself, because I'm definitely I'm on the journey. I've gone through that and, um, the first thing I had to unlearn is that saving is that you can save your way to wealth, because you can't save your way to wealth, like I mentioned earlier during that, the little game that we played um, you can't get rich without investing in something, because for you to even build the wealth, your money has to beat inflation, and the only way to do that is through investing in something. It could be stocks. There's obviously lots of different ways to invest. You can invest in property. You can invest in different types of assets. Some people invest in designer bags like that retain their value and actually grow their value. Um that keep their value but also, like you know, gain value over time. But you have to invest in something to be able to grow wealth.

Speaker 1: 5:44

So I had to unlearn the fact that, okay, it's just saving. You can't save your way to wealth, and I had to um unlearn the idea that you can. Like, it has to be quick for it to be effective, right, because it's it's a long-term game, like building wealth. When we're talking about wealth, when we talk about money, that stands the test of time, that takes time. So I think I had to learn patience. Like this is a long-term game, so I'm gonna make it sustainable for myself by um not trying to, like you know, deprive myself completely of all the things, the things that I actually enjoy.

Speaker 1: 6:18

My take on wealth building. That isn't necessarily as popular, because I know, um, there's the thing on social media of like, oh, you need to like cut back on, like you know, the two pounds and the three pounds and you need to cancel your Netflix subscription and all these things, and I think there's a place for that. But I generally believe that you have to enjoy yourself along the way, especially when you're young and life doesn't wait for you. I don't believe in like depriving yourself completely and then trying to like scrape back the years through, like when you're older, when you don't have the energy. So my thing is you have to budget for joy, like budget for the things that you enjoy. If it's a coffee a couple of times a week that you really enjoy, if it's your netflix subscription that really like helps you like switch off from the world after a long week of working, budget for that right. It doesn't have to be excessive. I'm not saying all spend money on everything, but budget for the things that you actually really really enjoy and then be aggressive about the other things, especially the big things that meet the needle, like your housing costs, your transport costs. Those things are the things that are really going to add up over time. So that's my take on it. So I really had to unlearn the idea of you have to deprive yourself and it has to be so hard and strenuous, and I absolutely agree.

Speaker 1: 7:24

Now I want to come back to the point you made around patience, because you mentioned that you needed to kind of learn patience. But I think there's this notion on social media that you see people talk about investing or growing your money and it's often in a short time frame. And if we add on to that, you see people whether it's social media influencers or just people who are making money, showing your lifestyle that they built in six months, you know, I've gone from living in a council house and I have a flashy car. How do you, if you are someone who wants to come into this and start building wealth, how do you kind of distance yourself from what you see on social media and thinking that you know I'm not doing it right because I haven't got the wealth that these people online have in a short space of time, yeah, but actually understand that it does take time to get to that level, yeah, yeah, no.

Speaker 1: 8:04

First of all, I think it's important to understand how curated social media truly is and how everything is designed in a way to make you feel the things that you're feeling of like, oh how can I get involved in six months? You know it's all very the way social I could we could have a whole podcast episode on that in in terms of how, like the psychology of like scrolling and how, like a lot of the content does, um, kind of encourage you to compare yourself and all these things. So, yeah, first of all, understand that social media is not completely real, like what you're saying is not completely real. So let's just understand that fact first of all, and then I think, second of all is under. It's important to listen.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Even though some people might have had success in six months or a year or whatever, and some people might have got rich quick, that is not the story for most people. So I think it's not fair on yourself to hold yourself to a standard of like the 1%, when actually you could build something that's a lot more sustainable and, yes, you know you might get lucky and something might happen, but just have realistic expectations from the start of what it really takes to build wealth. I wish I had some like statistics, um, that I can like throw in as to, like you know, the average person doesn't become like a millionaire until, like, the average millionaire is like 14, 15, like, yeah, absolutely a bit later in your life. That's when those things start to happen. So that's the reality of life. So it's important to like, know that and give yourself very realistic expectations and have a long-term view of wealth, because that's how you remain consistent, absolutely, absolutely. I think that that's a great way to put it people to really understand what it really takes to build wealth.

Speaker 1: 9:36

Yeah, you've mentioned, obviously, that you're on this journey. I think we all are when it comes to money. So I want to ask you, what's one money decision that changed the game for you? What's one money decision that changed the game for you personally? What's one money decision that's changed the game for me? Yes, it's really focusing on optimizing my career earnings, right? So you know how I mentioned about not being not obsessing over the two pounds and the four pounds, even though I did actually go through that phase and it was miserable. Can't back everything. Yeah, it'll just drop people the wrong way as well, because you're that friend that's now counting the one pound and the two pound and it's just not. I just don't think it's the way to live, because I've been there and it's just like not sustainable.

Speaker 1: 10:12

But I think the moment I started to really focus on okay, how can I optimize my earnings? Yes, I have to get better with like managing my finances and and the money that comes in, because, like I said earlier, most people that earn 100K or more literally live in paycheck to paycheck. So it doesn't just because you have more money, it doesn't mean you're going to be better with your money or things are going to go better for you financially. But for me, once I understood like the basics, the budgeting and everything, I quickly realized that the thing that was going to move the needle for me was actually optimizing my earnings through what I was doing at the time, which was my nine to five. So it's like how am I making sure that I'm exchanging my time in exchange for the most amount of money I could possibly be getting right now, at this stage of my career?

Speaker 1: 10:52

That was really important to me. What did that look like for you? So for me, that looks like okay, looking at my current skills, right, and what is it worth on the market? Like the current role that I'm doing, my job, like the industry that I'm in, what is it worth in the market and even like the process of making the decision as to where I want, what industry I want to work in, because I actually, interestingly enough, I have a science degree oh, wow, forensic science and I remember like like looking at like job prospects in my third year I'm thinking, hmm, yeah, I don't think this is going to cut it for me, you know, because I need to be earning money. Like I did not go all the way to uni to come out and be earning peanuts, like I'm sorry. No, so it was really important to me that I picked an industry because that's like the vehicle for me. That was the vehicle that I was going to use to like build a financial security, financial freedom, for myself.

Speaker 1: 11:47

So I started in my final year, even though I had a science degree, I started to look into, like finance and banking. How can I go into finance and banking? So I started to go to all these like insights weeks and started to research or how do I like go into a different industry that's not directly related to my degree? Anyway, long story short, I ended up going into finance and banking. So that's where I started my career and then I've kind of gone on that trajectory ever since and then I ended up in fintech. So I never actually did anything science related because I just didn't think I paid enough. In hindsight, of course, there are areas in science that will pay well, but for me at the time I was like I need that is not a bad thing.

Speaker 1: 12:24

I think sometimes you know, if you made a decision, you went to uni, you were at 18. You never know what you want to do at 18. You made a decision but you want to make sure that you can get the most that you can. So you did that. And if someone is doing it for passion and you're like, oh, you know, I want very early on that, listen, I'm here to like make money and like make something of my life and like really build something, um, yeah, so for me, the decision, the industry I chose that was a big thing in terms of my career. Um, how I negotiated salaries I always negotiated salaries. Make sure I learned how to do that, made sure I was like challenging myself and challenging myself in terms of the roles I was going for, like I wasn't waiting to be ready to become a manager until I become a manager. It's like if the role is paying. Well, I, how do I get there? I will like become the person that could do that so I can get into that salary bracket. Yeah, you made it happen. I made it happen quite aggressive and like climbing up that that ladder for sure. I love that.

Speaker 1: 13:27

Yeah, now let's come back to social media. So there is a lot of information that's online. There's a lot of people making videos obviously yourself included, which is great, but we have the other side. So I want to ask you, what's the worst piece of financial advice you've ever heard that still goes viral? Oh, I'm gonna have to think about that one. What is? I know there's so much. There's so much online. There's a lot online. Um, the worst piece of financial advice? I'm just trying to think. There's so much online, um, especially on tiktok. When I think about it, I think tiktok is is the jungle in the playground.

Speaker 1: 14:02

Now a lot of people are just making content for the sake of it. That isn't always factual or correct. Yeah, the fact that anyone can just come along and just be like, oh, I've seen a lot and I think it's. I'm really struggling to think because there's so much in my head. I've had to pinpoint one Um or a few, then that perhaps you're like I'm not a fan of this. Yeah, like I'm not.

Speaker 1: 14:25

Like I already mentioned, I'm not a fan of the whole like depriving yourself completely of the things that you actually enjoy in life, especially the little things to like build wealth, like the whole, like extreme frugality yes, I'm not a massive fan of that and I think, in terms of like invest, I'm not actually a huge fan of the whole like invest with one pound, like invest starting with one pound. To be honest, why is that? Because I just feel like if all you have to invest is one pound, then maybe you shouldn't be investing yet. Is that what you think? Yeah, okay, so what's the minimum you think people should be working with if they're going to start investing? It's a bit controversial, but I feel like I feel like if all you have literally to invest is one pound, then I think your focus shouldn't necessarily be on investing. Your focus should be on saving money. I think it's just. Yeah, I think I've pinpointed it now.

Speaker 1: 15:16

I think it's the FOMO around investing, like there's a lot of like oh, you need to start investing, and I think it just builds up a lot of like FOMO and you do need to start investing, but I think everyone needs to kind of understand where they're at in terms of is this a good time to start investing? Because if you haven't built up an emergency fund, for example, then you shouldn't be investing your last 50 pounds, right? Because then, what if you lose it? What if something happens? You're then what if you lose it? What if something happens? You're gonna need that money. What if something happens?

Speaker 1: 15:46

So the I think the right thing to do is to and this is the advice that you get from all the professionals as well is that you should only invest money that you do not need anytime soon, right? So the whole like oh, invest one pound, I think it can be misleading. I see where they're coming from, because you can technically invest, starting with one pound on a lot of platforms, but if that's all you have to invest, then you don't think people should take that. He should not be investing. It should be to learning to save, to budget, optimize your income and then, once you saved an emergency fund, then you can invest in, because you don't need that money now. Yeah, I, I agree. I think that that is a very useful one. I think it's great that investing has become so democratized that people can do it, you know, with a little one pound. I think. If you literally just have one pound, you're right. Your focus probably should be on something else first, on other parts of your finances, before we begin, before we start to invest. Yeah, yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1: 16:38

So what is one money tip? If you're talking to your friends, you know you're at a brunch or you're in a group chat, what's? You're talking to your friends, you know you're at a brunch or you're in a group chat, what's one money tip that you would give to your friends that you wouldn't maybe necessarily post online? I would say, to be honest, I say everything online, like I actually don't hold back, like whenever I have any, like I I would say I've actually put most of my controversial kind of money opinions online already, because I'm not really, I don't really care, um, but what would I say? Let me just think about one thing I would say to my friend, um, that I wouldn't say online, because I generally say everything on that. I'm actually struggling with this one a little bit. But, um, what's the latest?

Speaker 1: 17:20

What's the last piece of financial advice I gave? I think it's it's I've said it online the thing that I wouldn't say online. I shouldn't say I've said it online. Okay, go on. Was it? It's just the piece of financial advice I gave. I think it's I've said it online the thing that I wouldn't say online. I shouldn't say it, I've said it online. Okay, go on. What is it? It's just the thing of, like, don't be focusing on the two pounds or the five pounds. Focus on the real moves. Like, focus on investing in your skills, focus on the things that are going to move the needle instead of obsessing over one pound. Yeah, I completely agree.

Speaker 1: 17:44

I think my one, because when I asked you that, I was thinking about what mine is. I think mine is probably around spending money to look wealthy and not actually being wealthy. Oh yeah, because I have a lot of friends or a lot of peers who spend money on things like flashy cars, you know, looking presenting as though it's expensive jewellery, but then when you actually dive deep, you know I've had people who have nicer cars than me, yes, who are asking to borrow money from me because they haven't got the money, and I'm like so what's the point in in having the car? Then? What's the point in appearing to your friends that you have the money. I don't think that's worthwhile. I think you should be focusing on actually being wealthy and building your wealth, then presenting to others who don't really care about you that you have that. Well, exactly yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1: 18:28

No, that's, that's so real, and I feel like I have said that online. To be honest, everything that you would say to rotate, you said online. You are the one to just follow, because all the group chat news gets online as well. Babes like I love that. So if we're going to careers, then what's one piece of advice you'd give someone who's currently in a career, who's like you know what? I believe I could be earning more, but I'm not really sure how to actually go about salary negotiations, you know, because it can feel very daunting, and I know we're told all the time that you know you should always go for hire, you should do this, you should do that. I think men generally are better at it. Yeah, yeah, even if they, even if they're not qualified, they'll go for it. And I think, like this is what I would say. I think if a job requires 10 things for you to go for a set salary, if men tick four of the boxes, they'll go for it, women feel like they need to tick all 10. So if someone is in that space, like I want to go for a higher salary but I'm not too sure, how would you they go about it? Yeah, I think I'll definitely start this one by saying I've definitely noticed, um, a lot of misconceptions around negotiating in general, like even just salary, anything like especially when it comes to women.

Speaker 1: 19:38

We women usually think that negotiating has to be confrontational and I know that makes us shy away from it because we're like I don't want to be confrontational, like you know, I just want to accept what I'm given and, you know, get on with it, kind of thing. Because, like you know, why do I want to confront? But then my counter to that is that negotiations don't actually, a lot of the times they're not confrontational. It's not an argument, it's not like an aggressive back and forth, because and I think, yeah, I understand, because that's kind of what you think like negotiating it sounds a bit aggressive, yeah right, but it's not. It doesn't have to be aggressive, it's just it's kind of the norm, it's expected of you.

Speaker 1: 20:15

Like, if you got a job offer and you didn't negotiate, they're probably thinking, oh no, that was easy. Okay, fine, take that then, because there's usually room. Like they, a lot of employers, a lot of you know professionals, hr professionals factor in the fact that you might negotiate into the offer they've given you. So by you not negotiating, you are leaving money on the table. Money on the table because they kind of expect you to, especially when they can see the value that you're bringing, and especially if you're negotiating after you've been given the offer. They want you now and they will. They want to keep you. They didn't give you the job out of pity. They they give. They've given you that job before because they see the value that you bring. So now it's down to you to see that value in yourself and advocate for yourself.

Speaker 1: 21:00

It can be as simple as it can. It can be a very simple conversation, as in oh, these are my expectations. Oh, based on the. Having gone through the process of the interviews, actually, I can see that the scope of the role is a little bit more than what I initially had in mind. This is are you happy to meet me at this amount, based on this, this and that, based on this thing that I have, understand your value?

Speaker 1: 21:24

I think it starts with understanding your value and what you bring to the table, what makes you stand out. This is where you can refer to your credentials. You can refer to your experience, you can refer to certain skills that you bring to the table and just present it. It can be in an email, it can be in a conversation. Just present that forward, have an amount and then let them come back to you. But how do you figure out that amount? You know, because I think, if, if, if you think right, I'm going to negotiate my salary, you might think, right, I'm just going to ask for a one grand more than what they offered me.

Speaker 1: 21:52

You know, how do you figure out what that scope is? Yeah, so do your research. It has to be based on something, it has to be factual. So there's lots of websites that you can use. You can usedoor. There's a lot of salary transparency that goes on there, so you can kind of see what other people are earning at your similar level and similar companies. And if it's more, then you can kind of use that as your benchmark and be like, actually, maybe go a little bit higher, because they will rarely ever meet you at the number that you've presented to them. So maybe go a little bit higher. And, yeah, tell them that this is my, these are my expectations. Can we meet at this amount based on this, this, this? And that you always have to come with like facts. Like I said, know your value, come with some solid facts. And then, yeah, once you've done your research, speak to your peers.

Speaker 1: 22:35

I'm a big fan of this. Like, I speak to my colleagues about money and I'm not shy about that. Unless I'm not like I, unless I'm not like I'll make sure I'm not breaching anything, because obviously some roles have like NDAs and things like that, but most don't. But I will speak to my colleagues and even my ex-colleagues. I think it's important to have that conversation with like certain colleagues where you can be transparent with each other about, like, how much you're earning, because it helps both of you, it helps everyone, it's true. So ask them, oh, what are you earning now? Just so I know that I'm on the right path. That helped me so much, so, so much, just knowing what other people earned.

Speaker 1: 23:11

Did you ever realize that, any roles you were doing, you were being underpaid compared to previous people? Oh my gosh. Yes, I remember the first time I started, like my very first job, the first time I um realized what other people that were literally doing the exact same thing as me but maybe they had like the word senior in front of their job title and but we're on the same floor doing the same thing, using the same skills, coming in, clocking in, clocking out at the same time, and I realized and I think at the time I was on 28,000 pounds, they were on 40,000 pounds and I I remember like I'll never forget my reaction. I was was just like what? I was so shocked, like what you, you're earning and me, I'm here and we're sat next to each other, we go to lunch at the same time Kiki Kian, kiki Kian and you're here. That was like my first wake-up call about the corporate world and as to how much discrepancies that you know you, that you know you, can experience in terms of pay. Absolutely for me that was very important. So now I knew okay, my next job, I need to get that amount and that's what exactly what I did. So my next job was 40k, because I was like, I have the skills, because you have senior in front of your name, we do the same thing, so, meeting that I must become a senior. But but how would you know if you don't have those conversations, which is which is what's so important. You wouldn't know, yeah, unless you have those conversations, yeah. So salary transparency is very, very important and that's why sometimes I will share my salary. I'm quite open about what I earned from my career because I know it's so helpful, it helped me so much, um, but yeah, I mean, if you don't know anyone at all, then go on glassdoor, yeah, and like fishbowl, there's websites, yeah, amazing. I think that that is so useful to a lot of people who are going to be listening and watching to this.

Speaker 1: 24:46

What is one simple change that someone can make this week to instantly make their finances better? To instantly make their finances better, make a list of your income and outgoings and compare them to see what you have coming in, what you have going out. It's simple five minutes. Just do a brain, a brain dump of okay, this is how much I earn, if it's your 95. Okay, this is my monthly salary after tax, and then write another list, um, you can even talk to the activity and tend to spit it out for you on a spreadsheet, if you're. If you can't bother, yeah, but yeah, you can literally do that, and then you now you have a picture of your finances, like it's that first step of acknowledgement. It's like you're able to now acknowledge that, okay, this is what I'm working with.

Speaker 1: 25:29

But I think that's daunting to a lot of people. I mean, I speak to people all the time who tell me that they're just scared to go in a banking app to have a look at their bank balance or how much they spend no-transcript. Face it and it's scary. But I would say that the first step has to be for you to acknowledge something like in any area of your life, you want to make a change. If you want that positive change. It can't happen when you're in a space of blindness and when you're in a place of like, when you don't know what's going on, you just won't be able to change something that you don't really understand or know about. So I know it's daunting, but you have to just face it and be like okay, let me just take five. You can even schedule in your calendar okay, on six o'clock tomorrow night I'm gonna sit down with this thing and face it and block out like an hour and just do it like act despite of the fear. You have to act because once you understand it and understand that whether it's in a good state or in a bad state, it doesn't matter, because at least now you know, yes, then you can do something about it. Yes, right, if you, like I said, if you don't know, you can't fix it, so just feel the fear anyway, because that's normal, perfectly normal. Understand that most people feel like that, even people that are only six figures, they feel like that. Some millionaires feel like that. But you just have to do it. Yeah, sit down, confront it. Once you understand it, then you can start to make certain changes. Couldn't agree more.

Speaker 1: 26:57

What are three things you think everyone in their 20s should prioritize financially, and in what order? Okay, cool. So I would say prioritize, like just understanding your finances. Like understanding again, like what's going in, what's going out, if you have, if you have some finances I'm assuming here that maybe you have a job, part-time job, full-time, corporate whatever business um, just understand again what's going in, what's coming out, so you can start to like, learn to budget. So learn to budget your money.

Speaker 1: 27:36

I would say that your 20s are a very good time to really start to build up your skills, to be able to earn money. So like, yes, I understand that there are people who, in their 20s, have earned like six figures, and it's very common now to see you know financial success in your 20s, but understand that most people in their 20s are not there yet. So don't feel like you're behind, because I really think that you're, because everyone's journey is different as well. Right, one person can be only six figures now and not be only six figures later. Everyone's journey is so different. But don't let the pressure of social media get to you and make you feel like you're behind, because this is your own race. You need to focus on your own lane Right and use the time to build up skills.

Speaker 1: 28:18

Use this time to make yourself become valuable, because once you build value, once you become a valuable person with skills that people want to pay for, I think that's what your 20s are for. Yeah, build up those skills, learn what you need to learn, make the mistakes, but learn from it and become valuable. And then, once you become valuable, inevitably the money will come. Yeah, I agree, right, there's people that fast track that that you know the people have. Some people have condensed that into like a year or two years or whatever. Some people take some 10 years to build up that skills and become really valuable. But use your 20s to become a person of value by investing in your skills and gaining the experience that you need, being strategic about your career, and then the money will start to come. So I think that's the second money move, yeah, and the third one is learning to invest.

Speaker 1: 29:03

We've spoken a lot about you know investing and how you shouldn't feel too much pressure at this stage to invest, especially if all you have is one pound to invest, but investing again. You can't build wealth without investing in something. For me, the thing I invest most of my money is stocks and shares, and you kind of have to learn how that works, because you can't you shouldn't invest in something that you don't understand, right? So use your 20s to just learn about money. Read the book. The second you have money rich, the Rich Dad, poor Dad, like. Understand how money works, learn how to invest and, if you can, if you're in a position to start investing because there are some people that are start investing. Learn about investing, start investing, start dipping your toes in, start to understand how it works, download apps and really start to like understand it and start your investing journey, if you can. I think that's amazing. I think those three things will help anyone 20s and beyond to actually get their finances in order, definitely.

Speaker 1: 29:57

Now we are on to the last part of the episode, so we are on to I know right Flies by. We are on to our last game called Rich or Ridiculous. I have five statements in front of me and I want you to tell me if you think it's rich, then something that people should do or ridiculous, and something that people shouldn't do, and give me a very short reason why. Okay, cool, right, I'll try and keep it short. That's my challenge. You ready? Yes, brilliant.

Speaker 1: 30:19

Yeah, using buy now, pay later for luxury purchases. Rich or ridiculous? Ridiculous? Why? Because it's a luxury purpose, luxury purchase, and you obviously don't need it. Um, so there's no reason why you should be spending like splitting, using buy now, pay later on luxury purchases, unless maybe you have that money and you just it's for cash flow, unless it's for, like, a really smart reason. But if it's just like, if it's just because you want it, then no, no makes sense putting every spare penny into investments rich or ridiculous. Every spare penny, I mean rich or ridiculous. Every spare penny, I mean there's an app that actually lets you do that Moneybox, I believe. I mean, it's a good way to learn about investing and see how your pennies are performing, so I don't actually think it's ridiculous. But it doesn't have to be every spare penny if that makes sense. I don't think it's ridiculous if those are pennies that you just want to use it to learn how to invest, make sense. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:17

Saving for a house deposit before clearing debt rich or ridiculous? Ridiculous, because if your debt has high interest, then it's kind of counterintuitive because you're paying, you're literally throwing money down the drain whilst keeping money in the bank. You, you need to pay off the debt first, especially if they have high interest, and then save money in a high interest savings account, ideally, because you actually want that money to be gaining money and working for you, not directly losing money. Investing in index funds before having an emergency fund rich or ridiculous? Yeah, so you know my take on this. It of my take on this. Um, it's ridiculous. Yeah, um, yeah, have. You should only be investing money that you don't need. If you're, if you don't have an emergency fund, then we shouldn't need that money. You might need that money, so you need to save up for the instance, that you might need that money and then invest.

Speaker 1: 32:04

Love, that last one, quitting your job to become a content creator without a plan, which are ridiculous. Hey, this one that's throw Kerbal in there. Girl, you better have a plan. If you're going to quit your job now because I've seen that that has become more and more apparent yeah, it's becoming more and more popular you will suffer. You will suffer. You will actually suffer, because have you not seen the videos that are going around of people like going back to their jobs now, is it? No, I think I have seen a few. Yeah, we'll just listen. There's nothing wrong with that. There's no shame in it.

Speaker 1: 32:34

But if you're in a position where you're thinking about it, just have a solid plan, and I don't actually I'm not a fan of just relying on brand deals either, because that is, those are very up and down. Yeah, the here one minute, gone, the next. Yes, yeah, up and down. I think, personally, for you to quit your nine-to-five, you have to, unless you're like a huge influencer and, like you know, there's like different levels to it. Right, but if you're like the average content creator, definitely have something planned like a business, something solid that's in your control, before you start making and have evidence that that generates you money consistently, before you make that leap, because it's tempting. You see, small, small money you you're like, if I go all in, I can just double this, but it's not quite how it works, unfortunately.

Speaker 1: 33:17

Absolutely, kenny, this has been amazing for everyone listening and watching. Where can they find you? Thank you, you can find me on all the short form social media platforms, so it'll be your Instagram TikTok. I'm on LinkedIn. I'm on YouTube Shorts once in a while and, yeah, that's where you can find me. And you can find me at the Pivot Place on Instagram, which is my business page. Amazing. What do you do there? So we help individuals transition into high income skills, into high income careers as project managers Amazing, no-transcript.