Here Are the Top 3 Pieces of Money Advice I've Learned in 2.5 Years as a Finance Writer

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I love my job. I'm a freelance finance writer and editor, and since I started doing this, I've learned about making a budget , using different financial accounts, and ways to save money in my everyday life. Here are the top three tips I've gleaned over the last few years -- I bet they can help you, too.

1. Online banks have great features

It's 2024, and banking has gone digital. What does this mean for you? With a few exceptions (which I'll discuss below), you no longer have to opt for a bank that has branches in your neighborhood -- you can choose one that exists fully on the internet and enjoy a wide range of perks and benefits.

Online banks don't have branches you can visit -- this is the biggest difference between them and traditional banks. But branches are expensive, so you'll often be charged monthly maintenance fees and earn a piddly APY on your savings with a branch-based bank. An online bank can afford to pay higher APYs and charge minimal fees.

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With an online bank, you'll also enjoy a modern mobile app (where you can deposit checks, move money around, and maybe even use savings buckets ). And customer service might not be in-person, but it could be available 24/7. Oh, and online banks aren't any less "safe" than your neighborhood bank -- they fall under the purview of the FDIC too.

OK, so when shouldn't you opt for an online bank?

Cash is king -- for you, anyway

If you deal in cash often, especially if you make cash deposits, an online bank will present problems for you. Many don't accept cash deposits. The workaround is depositing your cash in another bank, and then transferring it to the online bank. This is more trouble than you might want to go to, especially if you'll need to do it often.

You like face-to-face help

The other reason not to choose an online bank is in-person customer service, which isn't offered by online banks. If it's really important that you have the option to speak to a human face to face if you have a question about your account, you should opt for a branch-based bank instead. I still recommend evaluating savings rates and other features to find the best one for you, though.

2. Investing doesn't have to be complicated

I'm pretty new to the world of investing, and one reason I held back for so long (besides not having excess cash to invest; more on that below) was that it seemed difficult to understand. I didn't like the idea of sending hard-earned money off to a stock broker and not really knowing where it was, what I was investing in, and whether I was likely to lose all of it.

Good news -- investing can be easy. The best stock brokers make it simple and cheap to open an account and get started.

And if the prospect of picking stocks makes you quake in fear, you can opt to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) instead. These track the performance of a particular stock index, like the S&P 500. And since the S&P 500 has had annualized returns of almost 10% over the last 50 years, if you can invest for the long term (ideally at least five to 10 years), you're likely to come out ahead.

3. It's never too late to get a fresh start with money

This last piece of advice is particularly personal for me. I spent the entirety of my adult life earning a low salary in jobs that required a graduate degree, struggling with debt, and living paycheck to paycheck.

But changing careers and then starting as a freelancer here at The Ascent was my turning point. I was able to:

• Pay off debt (and boost my credit score by 100 points in the process)
• Save money for emergencies and buy a home again (a goal I achieved earlier this year)
• As of two months ago, finally start investing for retirement

And I'm not a kid just out of college, either; I had more than a decade working in nonprofit museums and changed careers after reaching an executive-level position. I turned 40 this year, and the culture at large would have you believe that 40 is too old to make these kinds of changes to your life. Not so -- it's never too late to improve your circumstances and learn how to manage your money.

While I wish I'd been able to achieve more financial stability in my 20s and 30s, it's still worth doing now. If you'd asked 35-year-old me whether she'd ever own a home again or have a retirement account or emergency fund, she'd have laughed and said no. But 40-year-old me has those things.

What I've learned so far as a finance writer has made me happier and more secure in how I manage my own money -- and given me the confidence to help others. I'm interested to see what the next few years bring.

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