Gain Financial Literacy With Advice From Amanda Wolfe

When it comes to money, how you start doesn’t have to be how you finish. No one knows this better than Amanda Wolfe, aka the @shewolfeofwallstreet, a self-taught financial educator. Below, she’s sharing her experience and offering up tips for how to level up your financial know-how and start building wealth. 

How did growing up in poverty shape your relationship with money? 

For those of us who have grown up without financial education and/or in poverty, I think there’s a scarcity mindset that's really hard to get out of. Those formative years really have an impact on how you view, spend, and make money today. We all have to get over those mental hurdles.

What’s your #1 piece of advice for improving your financial literacy?

Start now. Trying to manage your money without knowing financial literacy basics would be like not learning your ABCs, opening up a book, and wondering, “Why can't I read this?” You didn't learn the foundational pieces. You won’t become financially literate overnight, but you can learn something new every single day. Consume information: whether it's reading books, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, taking courses, or going on Instagram or TikTok. Just start somewhere.

What’s a common money myth a lot of people believe but shouldn’t?

That you have to have a lot of money to start investing, and that investing is time-consuming. You can invest starting with literally just $1. Obviously, you need to invest more than $1 if you want to be able to build wealth but just start with something small. As you learn more, you can invest more. Investing also doesn’t take a lot of time. If you're a long-term investor you are setting and forgetting it, and then checking in every once in a while. 

What do you say to those who feel like financial security or freedom is out of reach for them? 

We can't help what happened in our past, but we can start working on it now. You have to be a little disciplined to go learn this stuff — and it’s not necessarily intuitive — but it's not hard stuff, just new.

Answers are edited and condensed for clarity.