Three Things My Boss Should Know About Me and My Finances

Part 1:
According to Workplace Insights, Millennials are more likely than Generation X and baby boomers to be concerned by finances, a stress that bleeds into our work. I certainly fit the bill. As someone who has yet to put Ramen eating days behind her, I have some solid financial stress.

As least I'm not alone. Others like me are wading around in a sea of financial misunderstandings, and our employers can help. With widespread financial misunderstanding in mind, here are three things our employers should know about those of us entering the real world and how we can help each other:

1. Thinking about finances gives me anxiety.
2. I do not know what financial wellness is let alone how to achieve it. 
3. Despite my current ignorance, I want to know and understand the financial world. 

Part 2:

While training for my first 9-5 job, I had to elect what percentage of my income I wanted to allocate towards my 401k. Rather than logically considering my future, I panicked and, in the spirit of full disclosure, determined to invest nothing. My employer offered the service, a 401k, but not the education. 

At the time, I thought about setting up a savings account, but that involved contemplating the dreaded F word (finances), so I have yet to do so. That's right, I currently have absolutely no money going towards my future financial emergencies or my retirement because I froze. 

I can't be the only one who freezes at the thought of finances. Financial planning comes up, and everyone smiles and nods as if we all know something about financial wellness but I would wager that most of us don't. 

Part 3:

I'm a college graduate; I know everything there is to know about finances, right? Wrong. I have never made a budget; I do not have a savings account; and, I call my parents every time tax season rolls around. 

To financially inform me, one would have to start at group zero. It is not that I have not tried. it is that I do not know where to begin. Every time I start researching anything remotely financial, I feel like I've bitten off far more that I can chew, becoming instantly overwhelmed. The definition of one word involves googling yet another word. 

I long for someone to kindly sit with me and break finances down for me, guide me through things through step by step. Someone who respects my strengths while conceding that finances is not currently one of them. 

Employers are offering financial incentives. But, I'm looking for an employer to provide me with the means of helping myself. When I'm educated on said incentives, I can take my pride in my finances and throw myself more fully into my work. 

There you have it folks. the things I wish my boss knew about me, and my financial knowledge as a twenty-soothing year old. 

-Written by Financially Fit Employee's Team Member Emi Bartholomew-