It’s easy to get overwhelmed by budgets and financial decisions and paying off debt and saving for retirement and all the things you’re supposed to be doing when you’re in the throes of adulting. But when you filter it down just a little there are a few simple things you can set up and take care of 90% of the responsible adult financial decisions without having to think of it a ton.

***These are my opinions and experiences. This is not legal advice, it’s life advice based on what I know and have seen. It is also probably not applicable to people outside the US. I don’t know enough about finances outside of the US to give advice other than very broad strokes approaches.

1. You need a couple bank accounts. You need to use one major bank that you can access just about anywhere – I use Bank of America (They’re a terrible corporation, don’t use them, but I’ve been with them since college and it’s my oldest credit account so I don’t want to close the account and take a big hit on my credit score.) I use this account for my paychecks and easily-accessible money. I keep relatively little in this account. Mostly, it is so I can have a debit card if absolutely necessary and readily-accessible funds if I need cash quickly.
2. Get a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) with an online bank. I use Capitol One – I’ve been really happy with them and their credit cards and have zero complaints (and I have no idea if they’re a terrible corporation, but I haven’t heard as much negativity as I have with BofA so I’ll cross my fingers they’re fine.) I keep my emergency fund in a HYSA. My emergency fund – EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND! Make that priority 1 if you’re just starting to save/get your finances in order – makes up about 4 months of our household expenses. It just sits in a bank account. That kills me. But also, if I had to pay my maximum medical co-pay tomorrow, I probably could because it’s available in my HYSA. Having this kind of safety net ensures that I never pay interest, and in fact receive money just for having money in the bank. I earn a fluctuating interest rate that’s been hovering between 3 and 4+ percent APY since I opened this account. That’s probably not going to make me rich, but it means my four months of emergency fund earns about $60 per month. That’s not nothin’, just for having a savings account. When you’re signing up, be sure to check that they’re FDIC insured – I know Capitol One is and I think Ally and many others are as well – so that you’re insured up to $250,000 with any one bank (not account, bank).
3. Set up a retirement account. Some people have 401k options through work. This is awesome. Many employers will have what’s called “employer match” amounts, which means that if you contribute X dollars, your company will contribute the same – they’ll give you extra money just to be a responsible saver up to a certain limit each year. IF YOU HAVE THAT OPTION YOU SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE. It’s free money. Usually that they’ll take right out of your paycheck.
4. If you don’t have a work-related retirement account, or even if you do and want to bolster it with something extra, some people will qualify for a Roth IRA (currently if your income is less than $125,000 per year). These are great retirement accounts that are tax beneficial for you. A Roth IRA has an annual contribution limit that is currently set at $6500 per year. You can get an account through Vanguard, Fidelity, or countless similar financial institutions and open your own Roth IRA account.

Here’s what I have set up and why it’s helpful:

1. I have auto deposit/direct deposit of my paycheck into my Big Bank checking account. The direct deposit triggers them waiving my monthly service fees, making my checking account free for me.
2. I’ve set up my Roth IRA to auto draw $500/month from my Big Bank account to my retirement account – This way I’m mostly maxing out my retirement account but with a little flexibility toward the end of the year when things always seem tighter.
3. The monthly draw into my Roth IRA is auto invested into two index funds twice a month so I can take advantage of the stock market growth without having to “time the market” or guess when things are going to be good or bad. This approach is called dollar-cost averaging and it has been shown over time to be the safest and most financially-beneficial way to take advantage of the stock market.
4. I’ve set my Roth IRA to reinvest any dividends I receive. This means that when the index funds or other investments I have turn a profit and pay me for holding shares, that money is reinvested to buy more stock in the same company, giving me more stock without having to contribute any more of my own paycheck money. **This works for me because I am far from retirement age. If I were within sevenish years of retirement I would have a whole different approach and would likely be working with a financial advisor to learn how to get the most benefit and security from my holdings.
5. I pay for everything with credit cards and then set them to autopay the statement balance each month. I don’t pay interest. I earn it. I put everything I can into my HYSA each month and then pull big payments from that. Everything I can pay with credit cards I do. But I have set up all my bills on auto-pay. This way I know what’s coming out, it comes out regularly, and I know I have a buffer because it’s coming out of my large savings account.
6. I sit down and review! About once a quarter – because for us, things are constantly in flux right now – Fiance and I sit down and look at our spending. We have certain fixed costs – mortgage, car payments, student loans, etc. that are the same each month. And we have things like travel and eating out that change each month. Right now we’re doing a lot of home improvement projects and we’re spending boatloads of money at hardware stores and lumber yards. It’s important to check in on things.

Automating your finances takes the “have to” out of it. You don’t have to deposit your paycheck, it’s already done. You don’t have to remember to pay your credit card or worry about late fees, it’s handled. You don’t have to remember to pull out money to put in your retirement account, it’s already earning you money.

There are apps you can use to help with the budgeting part as well. I’ve heard good things about Rocket Money and Mint, but never used them. Many online banking apps also have budgeting and spending tracking to help give you a sense of where you’re spending your money. If you have no idea where to start, start with the things I’ve mentioned here. There are also a lot of helpful finance gurus on social media and many of them provide a lot of free information and tips in very palatable formats.