ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — CPA Scott Adair of the New York State Society of CPAs discussed some best financial practices for young adults as they enter the working world on Thursday in Rochester.
Adair every good decision begins with establishing a budget. “As with everything we start with a budget and making sure that we build something that’s realistic and understanding what their expenses are going to be as well as what the income that they’re going to be receiving is.”
Adair said make sure that you identify those things that you know you’re going to spend money on such as gasoline, coffee, or home repairs. Then determine what your realistic income will be for each month. Be wary of overspending on credit cards. “You’re going to get credit cards and you’re going to get credit card offers, plenty of them, as you start to venture out into the working world,” said Adair. “Just be careful with them. Make sure that you get ones with low-interest rates. Credit cards are a good option but you shouldn’t—again—you should not overspend with them. Again, stick strictly with your budget and what you anticipate your expenses to be.”
Setting aside money for emergency savings is also an important strategy. “You certainly want to have maybe even a line item in your budget for it to set some money aside each month, being realistic – as we know – something is going to come up,” Adair said. “It may not come up every month but periodically something’s going to come up like a car repair, an unexpected book that you’re going to need to purchase for a class, a computer, what have you. But you’ve got to have some money set aside for those emergency issues.”
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