Financial health is such an important part of everyone's lives. The majority of our waking hours are spent working to make sure we can provide for ourselves and our families. However, too many of us are not taking the steps to ensure our families could be taken care of when we are gone. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and have a scant idea of how our financial system works let alone how they can take advantage of it.

As I said previously, financial education should be a core part of our educational system. From budgeting basics to investing in the stock, to the process of buying a home, every student should be learning the ins and outs of what it takes to be financially free. Over the last few years, I have made it my mission to educate my family on a number of these issues. Later this year, I plan on opening up credit cards and custodial accounts for my younger brother and my nieces and nephews. I want to give them a head start so that they can view financial well-being as fundamentally different from the average American.

While I plan on making this a key part of how I impact the educational system on a policy level, I also want to partner with non-profit organizations where I can help families, particularly those in underserved communities, with financial planning in order to help them see the potential they have to positively impact their financial well-being now as well as build wealth for future generations.

I also find there to be a taboo when it comes to talking about money. I remember hearing things as a child such as "don't ask someone how much money they make" or "money is a private issue". I am personally very open about my finances and enjoy speaking with others about theirs. I have been able to help my family by doing it and nearly all of them have become more financially prudent because of it. I debated how I wanted to show these being aware of the strange culture around money. However, I decided it best to go on unaltered because I do not mind at all sharing where I am in my financial journey. This is especially important if seeing my progress pushes someone to start asking questions and helps them in some way.