If she could have convinced herself of one thing during her younger days, financial advisor Tanya Winch would have told herself to save much more for her retirement and to begin saving earlier. “I regret wasting potential gains on magazines and gum” she said. “Back then, I didn’t understand the magnitude of what compound interest can do. It’s a great theory and it’s completely understandable but behaviorally, it’s not real until you get to a certain point in your life and you say, ‘There’s only so much left in my working life. I’d better get on it. I’d better stop fooling around.’” These days, she’s on a mission to help other young working professionals not only understand how compound interest can boost the money they’ve worked so hard to earn, but also how easy it is to do so. Simply directing a small portion of their paycheck into an account now will lessen their future anxiety about retirement and give them a leg up on feeling great about their money skills. Toward that end, she is teaching a class called “Take Control of Your 401(k)” that will be offered both virtually and in person through the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh – Fox Cities. The two-session series will run on Nov. 2 and 9 from 6 to 7 p.m.  You can register here. She wants young professionals to take control of their 401(k) and other retirement accounts and to understand that it’s not that difficult to do so. “I think everyone thinks it has to be a giant amount of money that you put into your 401K) to make a difference, but even if you just put a small amount of your paycheck in you’re going to see a big reward,” she said. “That’s the highest form of self-care and it’s really necessary for both your current and your future self.” While the class will cover 401(k) specifics like what a market cap is and… | Read More »