You've heard of the 50/30/20 rule when it comes to budgeting. That's 50% of your income goes to needs, 20% to savings and investing, and 30% to wants. Author of "Make Money Move", Lauren Simmons, says you need to flip those numbers. She says this applies especially to younger generations. Simmons suggests that 50% should be dedicated to needs, 30% to savings, and 20% to wants. She says that's because in today's economy younger workers are often finding themselves holding down more than one job or doing work that comes with intermittent pay like gig work, which calls for more of a buffer. And in inflationary times more of a buffer is better. 

Simmons is known for once being the youngest full-time female trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and the second black woman to hold that kind of role. Despite her start in finance being in the world of equities, Simmons is more cautious than one would expect. She is a big fan of fixed-income, like Treasuries and CD's, outside of her stock investments. She is bullish on tech. But she said each person needs to assess their own risk tolerance.

One area where she is open to risk is alternative investments like art, fine wine, and collectibles, but especially art. She uses history as a guide to determine the investments she's keen on. Still, she cautioned that historical performance doesn't dictate future performance, and says investing in alts is certainly not without risk – pointing out the decline of NFTs. She's also not a fan of crypto, and part of it is it's just too young of an asset class for her. 

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