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As the class of 2025 graduates college, it's time to think about the future. Graduates might be moving to new cities, starting new jobs and wondering what the heck to do with the greenbacks in their wallet. We want to help these new entrance into the working world set themselves up for a strong financial future. Here with more, we've got Greg Murset, who is the CEO of Busy Kid, a financial education platform for children. Greg, good to have you here with us. What is the very first step that grads should take if they get gift money for their graduation?

Hey Brad, good to be with you. I went to a graduation last night. I think they should pay us to go to those graduations. Those things are boring. But, um, it's, it's a good thing when, when kids get money when they graduate. I think that the first thing they should do is think about actually putting some money in the market. And I think that that's an important thing. Um, but they got to figure out how much they can afford to gain and lose, but, uh, really the important thing for them to do at that stage in their life is invest in themselves. They've got to make some investments in themselves, and that's going to be key for them.

So what are some tips for kind of entering the, the market, entering the working world, the job market and trying to make sure that they're managing their finances correctly?

So I think one of the things they need to do is figure out their time horizon, right? They got to figure out, okay, I've got some new money coming in here when I graduate. What am I going to, when do I need it, right? They need to figure out that time horizon. I think they can also look at the market and think, all right, I want to put some money in, but what do I do? How do I spread it around? Consider an ETF. That's nothing wrong with that. They need to start understanding what that is, um, and, and determine that they can use a balanced financial approach. Let's hope that they've been doing that before graduation, but allocating their money in a balanced way is super important. I like the 50, 40, 10, right? 50% you can save. 40, you know, the 50, 40, 10 method is just a really good method to help them be balanced and not just earn it and burn it. Uh, so, uh, doing that is a real important step as they, as they kind of start adulting as well.

What are the different types of accounts that you think new grads should open up so that they can allocate their money correctly?

Yeah. So I think, like I said, I think an ETF is a good idea. They should start putting money into that consistently. Um, I think they should look for, look at, look around for a high-yield savings account, okay? And I think that that's important, find the highest yields you can get. But more importantly, invest in yourself. Maybe, maybe it's time to, you know, get a trade that you really want to start going into and start paying that. Um, maybe you want to become a realtor or something, take a real estate investment test. Maybe you just get some certificates that can help you, help you get some skills to get out there and actually earn some money. If you want to get into college, I think that it's a really important thing to make expectations really clear with your kids and say, listen, okay, you're going to college. I'm in for a little bit of your rent, but you're in for your tuition, um, because what that's going to do is going to make them, I hope, an expert on understanding scholarships. And, and there's a lot of scholarships out there. There's, there's ones for academics. There's one for sports. There's lots of those scholarships and they can really help those kids defray some of those costs. So, um, help in ways that make them incentivized to go figure stuff out. I think that's a really important thing for them to do as they start that new chapter of their lives.

Is there, as you're just trying to get into the workforce, is there a sweet spot for understanding what your salary is going to look like compared to what that costs early days of starting to pay down college or some of the tuition expenses that you've racked up, what that may look like in paying off those loans?

So I think the sweet spot is freeload from your parents if you can, for as long as you can, right? Stay at home, kind of, don't, don't have a bunch of rent that you have to pay and things like that. Go to community college. There's lots of these online classes now that can transfer into college and you can really kind of do a lot more with a lot less these days if you're smart about it. I've got a son who did his bachelor's degree in about two and a half years. He just like busted it out and he did a lot of these online classes that transferred in, gave him credit and gave him a credit at a, at a cheaper rate. So there's definitely some options there. You just got to be smart and hustle and figure that stuff out and don't just walk in and think, oh well, I'm going to have six figures of student loan debt. Like you don't have to do that these days. Um, and if you're smart, you're going to figure out how to do that a little more scrappy way.

Great. Thanks so much for taking the time here and congratulations. I think it's in order as well. Sounds like you might have been at a graduation for one of your either kids or family members. So, uh, kudos to you and the Murset household.

Thanks, Brad. Thanks.