Turning 18 unlocks so many possibilities with not just tools but resources as well as where you guys can actually start your financial journeys. There's no longer the need for you guys to start begging your parents if you guys can use their card online or for some extra money. This video outlines everything you need to know and every step along the way that you as a new 18 year old should take in the financial journey. This video is going to outline the eight steps that you guys need to take to start your financial journey and actually become Financially independent from your parents.
The first one actually starts out pretty basic and pretty simple This is to actually get a bank account in your own name now with one of these are going to want this in your own name like just stated because you do not want your parent as a co-signer so if you already have a bank account make sure you guys do remove your parent's name off of that bank account so they cannot see any of your transactions or your history or anything that you may use money from one bank account to actually spend online or anything like that. It's important that you guys actually set boundaries between you and your parents. The second one sort of ties into that first one with a bank account.
This is actually get a debit card from that same bank account. A debit card is a card where you guys can use online and in person. Basically with a debit card, whenever you spend something right away, it is automatically and instantly taken out of your bank account like that. So this is actually very essential to have. in almost every single bank account that I know of comes with a debit card for that bank account.
The third one is another card, but this one is a bit different from a debit card. This one is a credit card. Now you may be thinking because you are 18, you may not qualify for a credit cards, but with a secured card, this is basically a credit card, which almost acts like a debit card, secured card.
You can only use the amount of money that you basically have deposited into that card at first. And what a credit card does, well, if you guys pay on on time and 100% of your payments. And if you don't miss any payments or anything like that, you guys can actually build credit, which allows you to get cheaper rates on things like student loans for college, car loans, any type of loan, and also be able to get you more perks on credit cards like cash back, which actually has more perks than a debit card does.
Now, in terms of credit cards, I'm actually going to sort of plug one here. This is not sponsored, but it's one I actually do recommend a lot. I actually have three. three credit cards at the moment, but one that I actually will recommend for you guys is something known as a step card. And what this company does is you guys can get a bank account and a secured credit card for this, and everyone will be accepted for this credit card.
Whether if you don't have established credit yet, basically a zero credit score, or you guys have a credit score in the 800s, this card, I completely recommend. This is a secured card. Basically, this credit card actually helped my score go from zero all the way to above the 700s.
and you guys will automatically be accepted for this card. Just go to step.com or download the step. app in the app store to actually get started in creating an account.
You guys can use this if you're under 18, but also as an 18 year old, you guys can use this. Now the next one on this list on what every single 18 year old needs to do financially is open up an investing account. Basically with an account on Robinhood or Weeble or another investing platform, you guys can start investing your money to actually make money on that money that you're investing. And so many people invest their money and I don't know one millionaire or one billionaire who does not have money invested because if you guys do want returns on that money basically money made off money you already have investing is the way to go with the average stock market return at eight percent with an investing account you guys will have over three million dollars by the age of 65 if you do continuously add at least 250 dollars to that account an investing account is so important and so beneficial to you and will continue to allow you to make money because money is the end goal for being financially stable.
Now if you already have those four things I already mentioned in this video you're already at an amazing start but if you guys do want to take this a bit further keep watching this video and the rest on these will actually help you even more than these first four basic steps actually did. Now this next one I'm going to talk about is completely optional and you can wait some years to actually do this but it's something that I actually decided to do as an 18 year old to sort of get more financially independent and And what it is, is actually get a phone plan that is only yours and get off your parents'phone plan. Now, you guys can go with any phone company that you want, but a lot of them charge so much money, even up to $90 per line, which is an offer I actually saw from Verizon. So the one that I actually recommend, which is $15 per month, is one from Mint Mobile, which if you guys have not heard of that company, they basically run off the same cell towers that T-Mobile runs off of. So you're getting the same 5G good coverage.
So. So 4-Minute Mobile is $15 per month, part-time. And this is actually such an amazing phone plan provider that I myself have been using So if you guys do want to sign up for mint mobile go to the first link in the description And you guys can actually get three months free after purchasing a three plan and with this this actually helps you you know save your parents some money and allow you to become more financially independent because you are paying for your own things and you're not relying too much on your parents to actually pay for your things now the sixth one on this list is to actually get an emergency fund and this one is not a hundred percent one that you need because if anything bad does happen you still I assume would have your parents to lean on but an emergency fund should be anywhere between one thousand to I'd say three thousand dollars at this age in case anything actually does go wrong and if something does go wrong that's more than three thousand dollars of course you guys will have your parents to lean on but it's good to sort of have some money set aside in case any trouble happens like you're car breaks down or your phone breaks or you just need some clothes or you need a place to stay for a couple of nights. The next thing that every 18 year old should have and this one might be the most important on the list and this is open a Roth IRA.
Like I mentioned earlier in the video, if you guys do invest $250 per month starting at age 18 at age 65 with an average percent on the market of 8%, you guys will have $2.7 million at the age of 65. You guys will have $2.7 million 2.7 million dollars and that is basically three million dollars at age 65 and you only have to contribute 250 dollars per month with that average rate of return at eight percent annually with this you guys can retire comfortably and have three million dollars at retirement and with retirement you're not going to have too many bills or even bills at all if your house is paid off and stuff like that plus you're going to be getting money from the government for social security if that still exists when we're 65 And I know for many of you watching this, that seems like a lifetime away, but this will greatly benefit you. And, you know, that age may come fast because life is going at such a fast rate right now for me at least and maybe for you guys too. So open a Roth IRA because the later you start, the less money you guys are going to have. Now, this next and the last one on the list is actually something that's going to help you fund these investment accounts or this Roth IRA or actually help you just get money in general.
And that is get a job or some source of income. income. So with a job, you guys can either work part-time or full-time, but if you guys are 18, I guarantee if you're in college, you're not going to be able to have time to work full-time. So this is where part-time comes in.
You guys can either get a job at retail locations such as Walmart or Target, or go for just any type of job that pays, I'd say anywhere at least $15 per hour. Now, if you're in a state that doesn't even have a minimum wage anywhere near there, it's going to be a bit harder, but what you need is to get a funding source where you guys can actually actually start a business or a side hustle that brings in money so you guys can start funding these investing sources so you can start making money on your money and so that you have money in the first place because if you guys are broke even at age 18 it's not going to be too bad but you guys need to start having money so that you can rely on yourself and not too much on your parents now money is not supposed to be the end goal actually having fun in life and having good life experiences should be but this video should actually help you out not have too many finances financial problems in your life in the present tense or in the future. So if this video did help you out and did give you a good basis on what every 18 year old needs to do financially, make sure you guys do give this video a huge like and subscribe.
My name is Matt and we'll see you guys in the next video.