About 20 years ago, I graduated from college, moved to New York City, and spent my savings on rent, security deposit, and a broker’s fee for my first apartment. I had less money in my bank account than the $850 rent that was due in only four weeks. I walked the city looking for a job, and took the first one that said I could start the next day. For several months, I worked six days a week, 10 – 14 hour days at an Indian restaurant in the East Village. It was hard work but the food was delicious. And I made rent.

Around this time, my mom gave me a book called The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by personal finance guru Suze Orman. I was definitely young, and close to broke, but I didn’t feel fabulous. Nonetheless, I read the book cover to cover. I promised myself I would follow its advice.

Several months later, I transitioned to a temp job in an office. The hours were better and I hoped it would provide a wider range of job opportunities down the line. But I was actually making less money than when I worked at the restaurant.

Over my first year in New York, I scraped by financially. But I managed to save about $100 a month, enough to cover the move-in fees on my new, cheaper apartment. Not only that, but my hope proved true: The first day in my new apartment was also the first day of my new salaried job (with benefits!) at $40k. On my own and for the first time, I had moved up a rung. It felt amazing.

I tracked my spending and earned at least a little more than I spent. But to secure my financial future I knew I needed to apply more lessons from Suze’s book. In my mid twenties, I focused on paying off student loans, retirement planning, and taking advantage of compounding interest.

Within a few months of getting a salaried job, I opened up a Roth IRA, set up automatic contributions, and invested in low-cost, broad market ETFs.

It wasn’t long before I got raises, changed jobs, and eventually started to earn more than the allowable income threshold for contributing to a Roth IRA. I felt fortunate, and yes, even a little “fabulous” by this point.

My Roth has continued growing on its own even though I haven’t contributed in many years. Today, my Roth IRA is a powerful testament to the power of compounding and early action.

Why do I share this now?

I’ve been thinking about the early days of my personal finance journey because MoneySwell recently brought on two social media interns from the University of Colorado Boulder: Lyndsey Shahani and Parker Brown. They will be working with us throughout the fall and I’m excited to have them on board!

As they use MoneySwell to manage their money and learn important financial lessons, I’m thrilled to see their first posts focusing on compounding interest, retirement planning, and budgeting.

To see their work and more essential personal finance content, follow the MoneySwell Company Page on LinkedIn, or our other channels including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube!