Emergency fund, passive income, active income, side hustle, stocks, dividends……these were financial terms that I didn’t become acquainted with until I was over 40. That age is significant because you see, my money habits were shaped by what I thought would have been happening around that age.

Let’s go back to when I was around 17 years old. I was speaking with a male friend (not a boyfriend) who was about 22 years old at the time. I can’t recall what we were talking about, but it eventually led to me ask him if he was getting married. His response stuck with me. He said he was not planning to get married because he didn’t think he would live past 40. And so I said to myself, ok, perhaps I won’t live past 40 either. I know. It’s weird, but that thought followed me around for the next 23 years. Every pain, in my mind, was a terminal illness. Imagine my “disappointment” when the test results always came back negative. I know. I know. It’s weird.

Fast forward to my 40th birthday and I started to plan a big fete to celebrate, half thinking “will I be around for it?” In the week leading up to the fete, a friend of mine who had been invited to the fete, passed away. She was younger than me. When the year ended, I thought to myself “maybe it [death] will come a year later.” Writing this now, I am thinking how silly that thought pattern was. But it was my truth, at the time.

Since it seems I was going to live past 40, I started to think more seriously about financial affairs. By this time, I had been working in a good paying job, and could have started saving for retirement, I earned enough to have bought a house for passive income earning (but didn’t because I don’t like debt) and learnt about investing. Instead, I had the most marvelous and memorable travel experiences, since I only worked 9 months annually, with 3 months broken up during the year to gallivant at cricket or catching up with friends overseas.

When I was about 43, I went to see a financial coach in Jamaica. She gave me a basic understanding of budgeting, investing and ideas for other income. That is where my knowledge began. Who knew that you shouldn’t only rely on your job job? It’s akin to not putting all your eggs in one basket. I still use her budgeting and net worth calculators.

A few year later, my brother, on finding out that I didn’t have a pension plan, hauled me off to see a friend of his who worked in a financial investment firm. We met in the lobby of the then Wyndham hotel one evening, and then he put me on to a financial advisor, with whom I not click. I am a relationship person. I need to feel that you “get” me, for us to have a mutually beneficial relationship. Eventually she left the company, the company changed hands and I ended up with a guy who showed interest in understanding who Miss Y’foot was, what her philosophy was and how he could help set me up for retirement. It was around the time I was thinking about leaving my proper job to freelance. He didn’t say “no don’t leave,” but rather “here is how much you need to earn to support your expenses and savings goals.” And then he migrated. Darn it. I went through several other financial advisors who, I thought, just saw me as a transaction. They never contacted me to say “hey Miss Y’foot, I think you should invest in this.” In fact, I emailed one, only to get an auto-reply that she were no longer employed there! And then the same thing happened with the one who I was assigned to afterwards!

Fast forward to a couple years ago. Kalilah Reynolds helped raised my consciousness, or rather re-awaken my consciousness about money matters. She provides good content and breaks down money matters into simple terms that even clueless me can understand. Having been a JMMB customer for many years, I found a financial advisor who helped me set up an “EMMA” account from which I can buy stocks. But before I can buy shares in any company, I have to improve my understanding of stocks, how to determine what to buy etc.

In many situations, I can figure out things on my own. I give myself props for that. But over the years, I have found that when it comes to finances and money matters, I need someone who is going to walk me through concepts, look at my expenses and savings, tell me what to do to achieve my goals and monitor my actions. What are my goals? As I told the first financial coach I went to, I don’t want to end up like the old lady I used to give money to at Scotiabank.

With just 3 years to the official retirement age (yes…..I am not as young as I look!), sometimes I think “yikes!” in relation to the state of my finances. (But not to worry, I have come a long way with being a disciplined saver.) When I think “it’s too late for you to start investing….you’re heading to being like that old lady,” I remind myself that I could potentially live for another 30 years.

I started watching videos on You Tube on topics related to finance, retirement and side hustles. One did, the algorithms landed this video on my page. Enter Anna Palomino in my social media space, giving tips and tricks on money mindset, things you should be focusing on…and sometimes, “badding up” her followers….with good intentions of course :). I watched her on JMMB’s Elevate 4.0 and Elevate 5.0 and liked how she broke down the concepts into simple language. You see the theme, right? I like it simple. Do not talk over my head where money matters are concerned. I took the plunge and recently joined Anna’s The Money Société which is like a bootcamp with very strict rules, which you are made aware of from the very beginning. Rules include if you do not do your action item before your session, it will be cancelled. So them days in secondary school when I didn’t do my homework, not going to cut it with Anna.

I NEED the strictness, where money matters are concerned. We had the first group coaching session a few weeks ago and I have my first individual coaching session in a few days so I am getting all the documents ready for her to review prior. When I saw the list of what I needed to submit, I was so pleased (and feeling very adult) at how much I had already gathered over the years. For example, I update my Net Worth sheet at least once a year. I don’t have any debt. I reviewed all of my insurance policies and updated the beneficiaries and know what kind of policy each is. I even found out that in 3 years, I will get back money off one!

Will this be a breeze? Not at all, but I need the accountability that The Money Société offers, something that I did not get from any of the three investment firms that I have been a client of. Watch this space for updates (and whether I survive this bootcamp.)