Many say managing finance is the most difficult task while some think otherwise. But for sure, many of us are not wise enough to have a clear idea of how to utilize our earnings in the best possible way. Isn’t it?
Most of us are very forgetful persons and don’t remember the deadline day of paying our bills and we incur a penalty on payment.
Personally, I stress on automated methods of financial planning and bill payments so that I am able to make a pragmatic and optimized use of our income and at the same time, add to my saving.
Owning a car has become an obsession with middle class families. When it comes to car, I prefer some reliable names Like Mazdas, Hondas etc. You see that these are Japanese cars. At first, I checked through the available offers from ‘The Country of Rising Sun’ and then chose a Honda Crosstour.
I did not place an order immediately. After all, I am from a middle-class family and in my early 30. I tried to figure out how many instalments, I have to pay at a particular interest rate. I stumbled upon several online calculator tools, but they turned to be a little better than being called ‘worthless’.
Some were good, but the sparkling ads in flash were enough to stub out my interest of using them. And then I decided to create a much better experience
Financial goals earlier in your life
The financial goals change as you get older. However, those must be in place when you are in your early twenty i.e right after landing a job. When you are in your early 20s or 30s, you should have a different set of priorities. Let us now see what studies reveal.
- 4% of individuals belonging to this age group are in favor or building an emergency fund.
- 4% consider planning for retirement.
- 7% are saving to buy a home.
- 1% are ready for investment in stocks.
- 1% want to clear credit card debt.
- 1% contribute to student loan elimination.
These are really very pragmatic goals and worth considering when you are in this age bracket. Having said that, I must want you to acknowledge that leaping into the dark to save, invest and clear debt could boomerang back with difficult-to-manage problems. You need solid and suitable planning for each of the above-specified goals. Let us now consider some serious questions while developing financial plans to meet your goals.
- How much do you have to save to build up your contingency fund? The answer depends on how much you want to have in your find after a certain period of time. If the time period is longer, you are required to save less.
- How quickly can you own a house? You must be precise in calculation about how long you have to wait for a down payment to buy a nest of your own.
- Have you calculated how much you have to save every month so that you can enjoy a worry-free life after retirement?
- How long will you have to contribute towards paying off auto loans, student loans and credit card loans? Obviously, the time length depends on your current APR.
If you have right calculations on paper and plans in place, you won’t have to suffer what I underwent while paying off my student loan debt. To offer you a helping hand, I have identified some useful blogs. They offer straightforward solutions and will guide you to assess time periods and amounts towards fulfilling your financial objectives.
When I first decided to assess and plan, it took several hours and even days for each aspect. At one point of time, I lost patience and thought about throwing the sheets away. But I stuck to what I should do. Like me, you will also not find it easy to prepare financial plans. But without those, you will easily get lost on your way.
How to manage your money
Money and how you manage it are some of the most important things in your life, since they influence your present and past. They help you reach your financial goals. Check out below how to manage your money:
Pay off debt: This tip will help you figure out how quickly the debt can be paid off and how much you should contribute towards debt clearance so that you feel like a bird out of cage over time.
Save to invest: Idle saving does not earn you money. You have to make investment with what you save. This tip will guide you for different types of investment goals and how long you have to wait to achieve your personal investment objective.
If you find these tips useful, share them with others. Also feel free to give your opinion about how we could improve our blog and what more you want from us.