I’m 21 and still feel like I’m catching up on stuff I should’ve figured out in college. I’m not bad with money. I pay my bills, save a bit, have no major debt, but I also wouldn’t say I’m “financially confident.”
I only started tracking my spending properly few months back and even now, there are moments I feel like I’m winging it. Taxes confuse me, insurance plans are a blur, and I only recently started thinking about long-term things like credit health and retirement accounts.
I didn’t even realize until last year that using just a debit card wasn’t helping my credit at all. I switched to one that actually reports to the bureaus, just to at least build a bit of history without juggling multiple cards. It’s been working fine, but it made me realize how little we’re taught about this stuff, especially as men. We’re expected to “just know,” and it’s embarrassing to admit you don’t.
I make decent money now, have a small emergency fund, and I’m trying to build more structure, but I’m still waiting for that moment where it feels like I get it. Like I’m not constantly figuring things out as I go.
So, to the guys who’ve been through this, when did you actually start feeling like an adult financially? Or does that feeling ever really show up?