My story

I come from a family where money was always a worry and at the forefront of lunch and dinner conversations. My parents didn't earn a lot (or at least they didn't think so) and whilst one of them focused on saving, the other was more inclined to spend the money, so there was always this tension between them. It also didn't help that they didn't understand how taxes worked, and why they might actually save a purpose (distributing wealth and funding public initiatives). The concepts of inflation, interest rate, etc were completely foreign to us. The money was just mostly kept in cash. The end result was a family always at odds over money - and a child confused about it. Soundbites like the following were thrown around at home all the time:

Nobody becomes rich by working an honest job. Unless you get lucky with an inheritance or the lottery, you will always have to work for a living.

People that become rich from poor backgrounds are doing something illegal or morally reprehensible, be poor and proud.

Save money and keep it safe. Don't risk your money, don't gamble - cash is king.

My first experience with money, like that of most other children, came in the form of a weekly allowance, and, in my teens, tutoring younger kids and earning some cash on the side.

I lived with my parents until age 26, when I finished my degree. During my degree, I worked part-time to fund tuition fees which, thankfully, were very low compared to today's standards. The rest of the money from part-time employment immediately left my pockets again in the form of fun money.

After moving out, as a graduate I really struggled to make ends meet. I ended up maxing out a credit card, but otherwise managed to just stay afloat. Fast forward 6 months, I applied for a job in the UK that had been advertised on the alumni portal of my university. With just the one suitcase, I embarked on this new journey.

My first few payslips mostly went into repaying the debt I had accrued on my credit card. Much of my pay back then went into housing - renting in London was never cheap. At the time, my manager tried to explain (defined contribution) pensions and pension contributions to me. My take-away was that the whole process was just a complicated way of putting money into some bank account that I wouldn't be able to access for decades - not very appealing (or so I thought at the time). Luckily enough my manager was insistent, so I eventually relented and started contributing a small amount to a pension, but without any understanding of what my money would be invested in, or how much I would need to put away to be able to retire. Regarding investment choice, the general consensus amongst colleagues was: do you think you can choose better than the pension provider's default? I couldn't at the time, but I wish I had taken the time to clue up earlier.

Any leftover from my salary at the end of the month (a fairly inconsistent, but consistently small amount) just went into my current account, as I had learnt as a child back home. The furthest I ventured was trying to find the odd savings account with a non-zero interest rate. When I look back at how I handled my income for most of my life, I mostly feel regret. If I had handled it better, I'd probably be much closer to financial independence.

It very much feels like my upbringing had held me back from making the most of money - quite the self-fulfilling prophecy. I went through all my school years, university years and much of my early career without anyone ever talking to me about personal finances and how to make the most of the money. This right here is one of the most troubling thoughts for me: We teach kids a lot of (mostly useful) things, but we don't seem to teach them how to manage their own money, nor encourage them to think about financial independence and the options available to them to get there.

Over time, Mr Sloth and I started working things out, and slowly dipped our toes into investments beyond cash savings accounts. However, that process took time, and during much of it we still kept most of our savings in cash.

Fast forward a few years, and here we are, with a much better understanding of what it means to be financially independent, and a plan on how to get there. I cannot wait to see this journey through and share it with others.