5 financial moves to make on day one of your first job

5 financial moves to make on day one of your first job. What I wish I knew at 22. It takes less than one day to set up. I'm the first in my family to build a career in corporate America. I came to the US as an international student and I'm an only child. So I really figured all this out by myself in the first few months postgrad while navigating adulting career stuff. So I'm making this video for anyone who's in a similar position, who's maybe a little bit confused but wants to lock in on their finances and free up time to focus on their career and building their postgrad life. I'm still in my early career myself and I absolutely love sharing everything career, money, life related as I learn these things. So follow for more. The first thing I would do before I even get my first paycheck is open a high yield savings account. This way my money can sit there and grow 4 to 5% every single year instead of less than 1%, which is what a traditional savings account will give you. It's free, it takes less than 5 minutes to set up and it's basically a risk-free way to have your money grow for you but still be able to take it out to cover emergencies whenever you need to. This is also the account I would put my emergency savings in. I'm pretty risk tolerant so I save 3 months of living expenses. Other people do 6 months or 9 months, up to you. Move 2, the second your company HR sends over benefits enrollment, I would study the 401k policy and figure out what you need to do to get a company match. Every year there is a federal limit to how much you can contribute to your 401k. This year it's 24.5k. Most companies will match a percentage of your contributions because they want to encourage you to invest in your retirement. So it's literally in your best interest to maximize how much you put in because then you're getting maximum free money from your company. When I was doing elections, I was specifically confused about the difference between a traditional 401k and a Roth 401k. This is not financial advice, but I personally went with a Roth 401k, meaning I'm contributing money that has already been taxed and I can take it out after I turn 60 years old without paying taxes on it. The rationale being that I will be in a higher tax bracket later in life, meaning I'll get paid more than I am when I start my first job, which is pretty reasonable. Move 3, also in benefits enrollment, if your employer offers an HSA or FSA, milk it. Specifically the health savings account is so underrated. It's a triple tax advantage account, meaning it goes in tax-free, grows tax-free and you can take it out for medical expenses tax-free in retirement. The second option is the flexible spending account, which can come in handy if you have big medical expenses coming up within the calendar year. For example, my first year postgrad, I put $3,000 in an FSA pre-tax so I could pay for my Invisalign treatment. Move 4, I would set up a Roth IRA and or a regular brokerage account. The point is as soon as that money starts coming in, you need to be investing. If you're new to investing, this can feel a little scary, but similar to high yield savings accounts, it takes less than 5 minutes to set up and it's free. The easiest way to start investing that requires minimal research is just to put your money into ETFs and index funds that track the S&P 500. These are basically baskets of many, many different individual stocks which decreases your risk. Finally, number 5, set up an automated money system. In an ideal world, every time you get paid and that money hits your checking account, you automatically pay for your credit card, your rent, your debt, a set amount goes into investing, a set amount goes into replenishing your emergency savings and the rest of the money you can just dispose of however you want. The point is automating your finances helps reduce the amount of manual operations you need to do every single month. It reduces the risk of certain payments falling through the cracks and it ensures that you pay yourself by saving and investing before you even get the chance to spend it. But also you don't need to have everything figured out right away. You just need to start learning and applying as you go. And trust me, if you do these five things, you will be ahead of most people at the age of 22.