Hi, my name is Robin MacKellar. I recently joined the Jacobi team as the Communications Associate in September. I spent my summer reading books by my parents’ pool and relaxing after having 16 years of experience in education, being a full-time student. I was riding on the waves of my parents’ (and my) crowning achievement, having a full-time job before graduation and successfully graduating college in four years. They even informed me the night before graduation how proud they were that “I did it in four years,” because apparently after my freshman year they started budgeting for a fifth year, thanks mom and dad.
Fast forward to the end of August, I moved my entire life from Indianapolis, IN to a city I had never been to before, Scranton, PA. It was a slightly scary decision to move, but so would continuing to live with my parents for the rest of my life. Besides, they have already made plans to move in with me when they are older. Hence, we need some time apart before we all live under the same roof again in 30 years!
If it isn’t clear, I have a wonderful relationship with my family and being an only child allowed us to have a strong and mature family dynamic. However, the one thing my parents tried to teach me, yet weren’t as successful was finances- budgeting. But by no means did they fail as parents because they weren’t able to teach me the one skill that ensures that I can continue my survival; because if that’s the measurement of success or failure as a parent, then over 70% of the parents in the United States have also failed[1].
I have only been a full-time adult for about a month now. In that time, I have seen how much money I don’t make, because, you know, taxes. In addition, paying for rent, groceries, gas, and bills tend to feel more expensive when you are using your own money to pay for them. However, being able to work in the financial services industry is requiring that I develop a passion (and quickly!) for budgeting, saving, and investing. While I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to budgeting, I am going to really try. And just to prove it, I’ve already ordered the participation trophy for my office (it’s a millennial joke!) I can honestly say I am looking forward to sharing my budgeting journey with you all over the coming months. Along with how the resources and tools that Jacobi Capital provides to their clients can be helpful in one’s financial journey. As it is wildly stated, “it takes 21 days to build a habit, but 90 days to build a lifestyle”- well let’s see how many tries at building this budgeting lifestyle it takes me until I can actually maintain it.
[1] In reference to the statistic from a study done by the National Endowment for Financial Education which stated that, “Only 24% of millennials demonstrate basic financial literacy.”