70 Six Things We Wish We Could Tell Our 21-Year-Old Selves About Money

So often we hear "I wish someone had taught me this at school,”.  It's the single most common piece of feedback Naomi and Helene hear they are having a bit of fun with this episode and going back to their 21-year-old selves and handing over the six money lessons they wish they'd known sooner: Three from Naomi and three from Helene.  This is a great episode to share with your kids / kidults and to share some of this really important money lessons we all wish we had known much earlier in life. Naomi's Three Money Lessons 1. Start saving from your first pay cheque. The habit matters more than the amount. Automate a transfer the day you get paid, even if it starts small — the earlier the habit forms, the less it ever has to compete against a lifestyle that's already grown to fill the gap. 2. Understand what refinancing your mortgage actually resets. Every home loan is front-loaded with interest, and refinancing back to a fresh 25 or 30-year term resets that interest-heavy curve all over again. Naomi explains how to refinance for a better rate without quietly resetting the clock every few years. 3. Start investing early — even in tiny amounts. A micro-investing account lets you build comfort with market movement while the stakes are still small, so investing feels normal well before you have "real money" to put in. Helene's Three Money Lessons 4. Compound interest is more powerful than it feels when you're young. You don't need a meaningful amount to start — the magic is in the time, not the size of the deposit. Helene's advice: start absurdly small and let time do the rest.\ 5. Super is the one she wishes she'd paid attention to sooner. Helene shares that she wished someone had talked to her about the importance of super so much earlier.  Super became compulsory in 1992 and had she paid attention to it all the way back then, she would have been in a significantly stronger position today. 6. Budgeting is a habit worth building early. For Helene, budgeting is about information: knowing where your money actually goes, so you get to make decisions on purpose. Building that habit young means you get take make the most of that information much earlier in life.   This episode is sponsored by NGS Super. Sponsorship does not influence the general information shared in this episode, and nothing discussed should be taken as a recommendation of any NGS Super product or service. This content is general information only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs — it is not financial product advice. Naomi Holmes and Her Money Matters are licensed by Alethea Partners Pty Ltd, AFSL 557729.  Past performance in not an indicator of future performance.