Strengthen Mental Fitness with Financial Education

Libby Snyder from Merril Lynch shares her incredible story of how she ended up working as a financial advisor and how each phase of her life aided in her career as a financial advisor.

Here are 5 ways to improve your mental health and equip yourself with financial knowledge.

  1. Conscious effort in exploring/learning about financial systems. As Libby highlights, our schools don’t teach much about financial systems, and all of a sudden, a student is asked to take a student loan with no idea how this would impact their life. So, it is vital to develop a routine of reading and exploring financial knowledge or enrolling in a course that gives you a baseline knowledge of what compound interest is versus principal interest, etc.
  2. Developing a circle of influence. You become what you are surrounded by, so choosing what type of people you want to hang out with is critical. Typically, having a clear sense of your goals, whether financial stability, building new income streams, improving financial management, etc., can help you identify influencers and friends.
  3. Developing a routine. Having 30 minutes to an hour for yourself can be life-changing, whether you workout, read, meditate, do yoga, etc. All of these elements can help you be in the sense of appreciating all that is around you. When surrounded by positive thoughts, your neuro patterns will light up in ways you’ve never thought of. Suddenly, an idea would pop, and you’ll find new solutions to the same problems.
  4. Understanding the consequences of accessible capital. Taking a loan from the bank or purchasing something on your credit card is easy and accessible but understanding the long-term consequences is essential.
  5. Don’t overwhelm yourself; small steps can make up for a long journey. We often have the tendency to run towards a goal or our better version once we identify an issue. It is crucial to understand that giant leaps will do little because it’s not about how much you can cover in one go but instead how much you absorb and adapt. Hence, bite-sized information daily can help you understand big ideas in the long run.

Lastly, Libby shares that finding what’s most important to you is essential. In addition to this, reading and journaling can really help to get into a positive mindset; being involved with the community can be a great way to come across inspiring stories, which can, in turn, help us. Check out the full conversation with Libby Snyder on Mental Recess.

 

by Erin McNamara