I'm in My 30s, and I Don't Know Basic Finance. Is It Too Late to Learn?

You read an article about America's financial literacy hitting all time lows and you recognize yourself in it. That's not a hypothetical.That's a real question from someone in their 30s who never learned this stuff, who's been living in survival mode for way too long to learn it, and who's now sitting with a quiet shame about it. Well, friend, there's a reason your brain couldn't learn this until now and it's not a character flaw.And the fact that you're asking the question already changes everything. So stay with me today. We're going to talk about how to make this work right now on today's show. Hello and welcome to Financially Confident Christian.This is your daily dose of trying to make faith and finance come together. And today I want to talk about America's financial knowledge declining and hitting record lows.We got a question today from somebody who's in their early 30s. They never were taught basic finance and they're too busy surviving to learn it on their own. And they're asking a really tough question.Is it too late to start? They're feeling behind, they're feeling ashamed and they're overwhelmed by conflicting advice. What a great question.And maybe you've got a question you'd like me to answer on the show. I would love to hear it. You can go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question we'll put a link in the show notes.But again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question All right, you ready for this one? This is the subject line. It says I'm in my 30s and I don't know basic finances. Is it too late to learn?Then they get into their question. Hey Ralph, I read an article about American's financial knowledge being at an all time low and it got me thinking about my own situation.I'm in my early 30s and honestly I don't know much about basic finance. I was never taught it in high school and I've been too caught in just surviving month to month to learn it on my own.The article mentioned that people with poor financial understanding make bad decisions and are financially fragile. That's me. I couldn't come up with $2,000 for an emergency if I had to.And I know part of the problem isn't that I don't understand the basics, things like saving, investing, borrowing, all that stuff. But here's what scares me. Is it too late to learn? I feel like everyone else figured this out already and I'm way behind.Also, every time I try to look stuff up online, I Get flooded with financial influencers giving me advice that sounds good, but I can't tell if it's real or not. Is there hope for someone like me? Where do I even start? Thank you, Ralph. Well, thank you.And I love the fact that you said the Internet is full of financial influencers who are flooding you with nonsense. That's my words. But it's true. There are a lot of knuckleheads out there promoting stuff that just doesn't make any sense.But here's the problem today I want to focus in on, because you mentioned about being in this tough situation of survival mode. Financial stress crowds out your ability to learn. You're thinking right now. But Ralph, I've never learned this.It's neuroscience what you're talking about. It's not a personal failure. When you're living in that stress environment, your brain can't learn anything.So what we've got to do first is we got to reduce the stress first, and then you can start to absorb some financial knowledge. But listen, friend, you're not behind because you're broken. You're high because nobody gave you the breathing room to learn.So that's what I'm going to do today. I'm going to give you breathing room to learn. But I want you to start by understanding why you couldn't learn this until now.So many people that I work with every day live in financial stress. And when you're living in that situation, it's hard for your brain to absorb complex information. That's just neuroscience.It's not because you're lazy. It's not because you didn't want to learn it. It's because you've been in survival mode. You're working, you're paying bills.You don't have time for learning at that point. And millions of Americans, dare I say millions of people all over the world are in the same spot. And the research backs it up.Basic finance isn't beating the market or some getting rich quick scheme. It's actually pretty simple. It's eight core ideas. Now, we're not going to cover all these today, but these are the eight core ideas.It's earning, saving, consuming investing, borrowing, ensuring understanding risk, and knowing where to find reliable information. Now that's a hell of a list, isn't it? And you don't need to master all eight in one week. You just need to fill in the gaps one at a time.Here's an interesting. Most Americans only get 47% of financial literacy questions correct. 47%. Less than half. Half of Adults are getting this wrong, too.The problem is your brain was too stressed to learn. That says nothing about your capacity now. So let's talk about how to fix this. You gotta solve the information overload and build some breathing room.Social media is flooded with financial influencers. I mentioned that a little while ago. Some of these people are great. I'll count myself as one of the good ones.But so many have designed their stuff for clicks rather than helping you. Honestly, the solution is to ignore most of it and find one or two trusted sources instead.You've landed on a great one here, but find one book, find a podcast or a person you actually trust. Not the loudest one, the one that makes sense. There are great resources at community colleges and libraries and. And there's nonprofits that.Free or cheap financial courses worth checking out. But listen, you can't think straight while you're in crisis mode. So the first step isn't learning to invest.It's not learning how derivatives work or how the markets work. It's getting out of that financial fragility that you're in. So, yes, I'm going to go there.It starts with something super practical, not some fancy hack. $2,000 In an emergency fund. Now, that probably already scared half the listeners, but you can start small. $100 A month in a savings account.Yeah, it sounds boring, but it changes your ability to think clearly. And once you've built that small buffer, your brain can actually relax for a second and you can engage with learning.It's not time to worry about investing when you're worried about paying your rent, but you've also got to let yourself go a little bit. You got to give yourself permission to learn slowly. You said you're in your 30s, which means that you've got 30, 40, or maybe 50 years ahead of you.Got plenty of time to learn this. You don't need to learn it all this year. Spread it out a little bit at a time. Maybe one concept a month.Maybe you read one financial book a quarter or make one small change every few months. Now, that's slow and unglamorous, but it's the only pace that's actually going to stick and be working for you.Fast financial learning, which you see on TikTok and reels and Instagram, those things are great. They tend to get forgotten quickly. But slow learning builds, and it builds those habits, because that's what we're talking about today.We're talking about how to build those habits. Slow beats fast. When it comes to something, you're going to need for the rest of your life. And at 30, guess what? You're just getting started.I'd love to be 30 again, but I want to get a little deeper into the faith part of this. Because you said something like, everyone else figured this out already and you're way behind, friend. That's a lie you're telling yourself.Not everybody's got this figured out. What did I say? Only 47% of Americans have the knowledge of financial literacy. But here's what fate doesn't promise us.It doesn't promise that you'll know everything by a certain age. God didn't give say okay, by 30, you're going to know it all. It doesn't say that.And it also doesn't promise that other people are as far ahead as they look. Some people put on a brave face on the outside, but here's what fate does promise us.You get to start where you are, not where you think you should be. God doesn't have some heavenly grading on a curve, and he doesn't compare you to anyone else. He sees you and he asks one question.What's the next step? Let's look at Proverbs 13:12. It says, Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.Your longing today is to understand your money, to stop feeling fragile and to make better decisions. And that's a beautiful longing. And it can be fulfilled very easily with just one step and then another, and then another.You don't need to suddenly understand what you missed for 30 years. You just need to start moving forward, understanding today. And the fact that you're already asking means you've already started the journey.You didn't miss your window, my friend. You're exactly where you need to be to start learning today. And starting is what matters right now.So here's your win for today, and I'm encouraged by this.I want you to pick one financial concept you don't understand and then find one trustworthy source that explains it could be saving, investing, credit scores, those emergency funds. Pick whatever scares you the most, and then find one YouTube video and article or a podcast episode that explains it clearly.Now I'm going to pitch my stuff. We've got over a thousand episodes in the catalog@financiallyconfidentchristian.com and most of them are formed in terms of a question.So go check out the catalog again. That's@financiallyconfidentchristian.com Now, I'm not telling you to commit to months of study. You don't need to go get a master's degree in finance.Just expose yourself to one explanation and don't beat yourself up. You don't need to ever understand everything. Tonight just understand one more thing because you can't build a concept you'd never looked at.So I encourage you today, go look at one. Which leads us to today's Bible verse and I've already mentioned it. Proverbs 13:12. Hope deferred makes the heart sick.But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. You're in that longing stage right now. You're longing to understand your money is real and it's not too late.But I want to get into a difference between hope deferred and hope fulfilled. Hope deferred is what happens when you think I should have learned this already and you just give up.But hope fulfilled is what happens when you take one step towards understanding. That tree of life it talks about isn't a destination you arrive at suddenly. It's something you build one day and one concept at a time.Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I bring before you someone today who feels behind on something they think they should already know.Help them to see that being in survival mode wasn't a failure, Lord. It was actually just survival. So today, give them permission to start where they are, not where they think they should be.And Lord, put before them one trusted resource and one clear explanation to take that first step. Protect them from shame and they've carried enough of it already, Lord. And help them to build slowly and steadily towards financial understanding.And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Friend. You're not broken for not knowing this stuff yet. You're human and you've been busy surviving.But the very fact that you're asking the question now means you're ready and timing matters the more than years behind you. So again, here's today's takeaway. Remember that financial stress crowds out the ability to learn. That's biology. That's not a failure.We talked about the basic finance in eight steps, not 800. And start with one, just one trusted source. Build that breathing room we talked about that emergency fund.And give yourself from permission to learn slowly. You're not going to catch it all at once. Now maybe you're trying to figure out some financial stuff on your own.I'd love to hear what's going on in your life. You can leave me a voicemail message by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail.We'll put a link in the show notes, just click right on there and record it. Financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail thank you so much for joining me today. I want to encourage you always stay financially

savvy.May God bless you and you have a truly great day today.