Money doesn't actually talk. We do.

My So-Called FiLife: Kristen Sullivan

My family did not discuss money when I was growing up. We had enough to pay the bills and take the occasional West-Coast ski trip. My parents paid for my sisters’ and my college educations (to this day I don’t know whether they had to borrow to do so.)

After I graduated, a few former Eph teammates recruited me to join their company. At their urging, I followed the path that so many young, clueless English majors at fancy liberal-arts schools do – to investment banking.

Having learned at home not to talk much about money, I thought little of it once I had my own. While working at Robertson Stephens (now defunct), I spent countless late nights analyzing potential clients’ financials but rarely looked at my own bank statement and other important mail.

As a result, I paid bills late and didn’t bother setting up a 401(k). Never having struggled with money much, I just assumed I’d be rich later and retirement would take care of itself.

I became better at managing my own money when my next job required me to offer financial advice to others. At Cambridge Associates, I helped major endowments plan their investment portfolios – and finally set up my own 401(k) using some of the same recommendations.

Saving felt good, capturing a return was fun and I was hooked on investing. All along, I’d been nagged by the desire to write, but it was easier to make a living peddling financial advice. I finally mustered the courage to believe that I could do both and took a flier on Stanford’s journalism program.

There, I quickly felt the pain of living on borrowed money. Splurging translated into treating myself to Campbell’s Chunky instead of the basic, condensed tomato soup mix. As I withered away, my parents took pity and sent frozen steaks (and an occasional check).

Though I achieved my career goal by landing at FiLife this month, the student-loan debt and the journalist’s salary sometimes make my heart race unpleasantly when I type the phrase “personal finance.” At least now I have the tools I need to help others be financially savvier than I was in my younger days. So let’s get going.

Mom and Dad, I know it’s shocking, but we’re talking about money here.

– Kristen Sullivan