It’s very easy to rack up credit card debt. It’s much more difficult to pay it off and considerably tougher to set yourself up for long-term financial success, to make good long-term decisions, or to avoid falling into classic pitfalls managing debt–especially for younger generations entering the workforce. 

I’m thrilled to share this conversation with Anne Lester. Anne is a retirement expert, speaker, media commentator, and author of a new book titled How to Save Smart Now for the Future You Want. Anne was the Head of Retirement Solutions for JPMorgan Asset Management for 20 years, where she traveled the country and spoke to tens of thousands of investors.

In this episode, Anne shares how she fell in love with the world of finance, why poor financial decisions are often made, and the importance of automating your savings with a 401(k) and creating an emergency savings plan.

Key takeaways:

• How we’re programmed to spend, spend, spend–even when we already have debt we need to pay off and don’t need more stuff. 
• Why we’re so afraid of getting it wrong when it comes to retirement planning–and how doing nothing sets us up for failure most of all. 
• Why now’s a great time to build a robust emergency fund. 
• How to get your credit cards under control, centralized, and easily tracked. 
• How our peers’ luxury spending tricks us into spending more on things we don’t need. 
• Simple things you can do right now to start bringing down your spending. 

 

Interview Resources:

• AnneLester.com
• Anne Lester on LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
• Your Best Financial Life: Save Smart Now for the Future You Want by Anne Lester
• J.P. Morgan
• The Crash of 79 by Paul Emil Erdman
• The Silver Bears by Paul E. Erdman