Finances, What I Wasn’t Taught and What I Know Now: Know the Direction of Your Finances

By K.E. Vigil

Want to control your money? Want to have the confidence to afford anything you want…anytime you want? THEN this book is for you.
• Need to save up for an EMERGENCY FUND? Did you even know you needed one?
• This book will get you the skills to handle money and you can apply them almost immediately!
• Need to pay off debt or boost your credit score? Learn how to do it here!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781667893341

Book preview

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Finances, What I Wasn’t Taught and What I Know Now

Know the Direction of Your Finances

© 2023, K.E. Vigil. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Print ISBN: 978-1-66789-333-4

eBook ISBN: 978-1-66789-334-1

This book is geared toward young adults or adults needing financial management help and direction.

I have made financial mistakes for you to learn from. And as a person who was never taught about finances, this is my journey to strive for a better life.

I have found ways to set myself up to succeed and pull myself out of poverty.

These tips and lessons will challenge the way you think about your financial life here, now, and in the future.

The above image is called a Vegvisir. It is pronounced veg-vi-seer. It is hard to explain where the Vegvisir came from and when it was first used. The consensus is that the symbol is from an old Nordic manuscript. It is genuinely believed it is from Iceland and it is accepted as a Nordic magic symbol. More to the point, the prevailing belief today is that the Vikings used this symbol when setting out on sailing trips. It was to help them to not lose their way—to guide them even when they were sailing in unknown territory.

This Vegvisir symbol has seen a rise in popularity lately. It has been used in movies and on TV. I also have seen it on many people in the form of tattoos.

The belief is that the person who wears this symbol will find their way and not be lost. It is believed that it was drawn with raven’s blood on the foreheads of Vikings who left Iceland on ships so that they would be able to find their way to their destination and back home safely. The eight staves, or arms, are said to be protectors of all obstacles and the struggles of life.

I chose this symbol so it can be the guiding force through the struggles of our financial journey, enabling us to arrive at our destination of financial wealth safely.

Contents

Introduction & Acknowledgments

1. Your Most Important Financial Decision

2. $ My Helpful Tips $

3. $ Ideas Need Action on Your Part $

4. $ Investing in Yourself Is Another Type of Investment You Should Make! $

5. $ Money Goals—Yes, You Need Direction for Your Money $

6. You Need a Budget!

7. DEBT $ $ $ $

8. $ Net Worth Calculations $

9. Taxes—EWWW!

10. $ $ Buying a Home $ $

11. $$$ Investing in the Stock Market $$$

12. Charity

13. A Will or a Trust? Life Insurance!?!

Conclusion: My Thoughts

Books to Read

TexMex Chili Recipe

References

Introduction &

Acknowledgments

When I was thirteen years old, I was moving . . . again! Another move to another house.

I grew up as a poor kid. My parents never owned a home. I lived in rental houses, in the projects, in government housing and apartments. I remember once we lived in a house with actual dirt floors. 

I can remember moving about once a year or every few years. This made for a very unstable life for a kid. When I was old enough, I found out my dad was terrible at paying back the loans for cars, for student loans, and for homes. His credit score was trash. This way of life does not lead to wealth for you or your family! 

Poverty was a way of life that I wanted out of. I knew others who were not poor and I wanted that life. I thought to myself, What job do I need? What type of education do I need to get that job? I set out to educate myself to a better life!

The amount of financial teaching I got as a kid from my parents was very primitive. My mom told me to save money; my dad told me about how credit works—sort of. He said if you need to borrow money to buy a car or a home, you borrow that money from the local bank. You need a job, he said. You need a way to pay it back to the bank. He never said anything about interest rates to me. I found that out as a young adult, on my own.

I remember one day when I was twelve years old discussing with my mom and dad why my sister and brothers and I didn’t have school supplies, why we didn’t get new shoes for school, and why we didn’t have food in the fridge. I couldn’t understand why my dad did not even have a $20 bill to his name. Why could we not have the basic necessities? I could not understand. Little did I know my dad spent most of his check from working in the coal mine on going to the bars, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and doing illegal drugs.

At the age of twenty-three, I graduated college and moved out, away from our town of Trinidad, Colorado. Trinidad is a small town and at the time I moved away it had about six thousand people. I moved to the big city of Denver, where I got a job at Denver International Airport. It was being built in 1993 and it had around six thousand workers! I was a technician working on the installation of the baggage system. 

My dad got me a $1,000 loan from the local bank. And that is how I started my financial journey—$1,000 in debt with a borrowed truck to get back and forth to work. I had enough money to get an apartment, pay to get gas to and from work, and I literally had no money until my first paycheck. It was enough to pay my next month’s rent and buy food and gas, the essentials.

This is why I am writing this book. To pass on my knowledge to those young adults whose parents have not taught them about finances. Also, for the parents who want to help their children be better off financially than they are. And maybe for those who just need a little positive direction in money management, you will find some good tidbits to get you on the right track! 

Wealth, money management, and finances are topics that most people do not understand and they can be overwhelming to