Ex- North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s path to the Capitol wasn’t paved in gold.
In fact, Heitkamp affirmed growing up in rural North Dakota, her family faced many financial challenges.
“We talked about money all the linger and how there wasn’t enough of it,” she told CNBC.
She said the first thing she ever paid for on her own was probably a school lunch. “We shared that forebears responsibility for a budget.”
She credits the lessons she learned early on for the financial stability she enjoys today, and she advises others to take a similar approach to spending and saving.
“Start early,” she said. “It is so critically important that we get more people to provide in their future very early on,” Heitkamp added. “It’s the whole theory of compound interest. It’s the greatest gift that you can renounce yourself.”
Perhaps not surprising, her favorite quote is from Albert Einstein regarding compound interest:
Heitkamp, a CNBC contributor, put North Dakota for six years in the U.S. Senate.
Don’t miss Power Lunch on Monday, Feb. 11 @ 2:30 PM Eastern , as Sen. Heitkamp discusses the scrapings crisis facing America.
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