2 minute financial tasks
Throughout the 100 conversations project, a common refrain I hear a lot is that you know you want to do something about money but don’t know quite where to start.
I’ve felt like this a lot myself while I’ve recently been going through my own personal financial journey. But these things have helped me push forward.
I’ve been reading Atomic Habits (which I was initially very skeptical of but I’ve come around to really liking) which emphasizes focusing on small and simple tasks that can be done in 2 minutes. The idea is that even if you do something for 2 minutes it 1) helps make progress towards the goal, even if it’s a small step forward 2) starting tasks can be a big mental hurdle, so if you can just start with something small, you may find yourself getting into a groove and going farther.
For example, rather than me ruminating on how I should really consolidate 401k accounts, I did a 2 minute task towards that goal: list out all my accounts. Just that. Nothing more. Obviously, later on, I then took it a little further—figuring out which accounts I wanted to rollover, then calling customer service to ask how to do that, then actually filling out the forms that needed to be filled, etc.
As a product manager, I’m always thinking about what can improve the product the most with the least amount of technical resources. In this case, my net worth is my product, and I’ve ranked tasks based on dollar impact versus effort required. It’s helped me see that I really should spend more of my time focused on getting reimbursed for something like pricey out of pocket medical expenses than a $10 Target return.
I’ve definitely not mastered any of these…(it’s a process!)
But I’ve put together a list of these micro-tasks to share:
As always, I’d love to hear from you and any feedback you might have. :)
Money & Crypto
Secret habits of the wealthy (CNBC) TLDR: 1) save 20% of your paycheck 2) invest regularly 3) be frugal
SEC investigating Coinbase for possibly illegally listing securities (CoinDesk) and Kraken being investigated for possibly violating sanctions against Iran (NYT)
Schwab to list a crypto ETF on August 4th (Yahoo Finance)
JPMorgan growing as a travel company (WSJ) I guess they have to keep all their Sapphire customers happy…haha
A primer on I Bonds (WSJ). I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know much about these until listening to Suze Orman’s podcast recently (she’s a fan of them). Anyone out there have experience with these?
Inflation affecting everything from craft beer to hot dogs in MLB stadiums (thanks Matthew for sharing :) )
Etc.
Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics passed away
🎥 I might be going against the grain here, since this got bad reviews, but I actually really enjoyed Netflix’s new take of Persuasion (and a good friend and fellow Jane Austen devotee backs me up on this so I’m doubling down on my opinion). Also it has a 37% critics Rotten Tomato score vs 67% by audience so that’s proof that critics are not always right!
🎥 While I initially went to go see Vengeance because I need an AC break, I actually really enjoyed it
Podcast Pick of the Week
🎧 I know this podcast is titled “3 boundaries every CEO needs”, but I really think it’s for any employee. Such good tips on managing work calendar and email.
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Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. The content on this site and on the podcast does not constitute financial, legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice.
