Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading about Abbey Graf, a 28-year-old who’s trying to save money and plan for her future. She’s working with certified financial planner Stacy Francis as part of CNN’s Savings Challenge, and I have to say, her story is pretty relatable. Abbey makes $74,000 a year and saves a quarter of her income, which is no small feat. But despite her best efforts, she’s still anxious about spending money and worries that she won’t have enough for the future.
According to Stacy, Abbey’s budget is “one of the most bare-bones budgets I’ve ever seen.” Abbey cooks at home, avoids hobbies that cost money, and drives a 21-year-old car that she owns outright. She’s also almost done paying off her $2,000 in student loans, which is her only debt. It’s clear that Abbey is committed to saving money and being frugal.
Abbey’s main goals are to buy a house and retire comfortably, maybe even early. She’s trying to keep her spending to a minimum and save as much as possible. Stacy is working with her to create a financial plan that will help her achieve these goals. One of the things that Stacy is doing is creating different scenarios to show Abbey how her savings will play out in the future.
As someone who’s reading about Abbey’s journey, it’s interesting to see how Stacy is approaching her financial planning. Stacy is using very conservative assumptions for inflation, health costs, and average returns to make sure that Abbey’s projections are realistic. She’s also encouraging Abbey to spend more money and enjoy her 20s, which is not something that she typically advises her clients to do.
It’s worth noting that Stacy has worked with over 270 clients in the past 25 years, and she’s only had to encourage a handful of them to spend more money. So, Abbey’s situation is definitely unique. I’m looking forward to seeing how Abbey’s story plays out and how she’ll be able to achieve her financial goals.
In the meantime, I’ll be over here, sipping my coffee and reading about the next installment of CNN’s Savings Challenge. Maybe I’ll even learn a thing or two about how to save money and plan for my own future. After all, you can’t start planning too early, right? In conclusion, Abbey’s story is a great reminder that saving money and planning for the future is important, but it’s also important to enjoy the present and not be too anxious about spending money. As Stacy said, “I’d love for her to do some travel and enjoy her 20s,” and I think that’s a great attitude to have.
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
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