Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been around the block a time or two, you should be considering your financial future. Where will you be in two years, in ten, in thirty years? How would you like to retire? Your window of opportunity closes a little more with every day that you put off actively shaping your own financial well-being. And you don’t need to be an expert investor or financial planner in order to start. As a matter of fact, here are four steps anyone can take right now that will provide a solid base on which to build. They’re so simple that they’re often overlooked. Don’t overlook them now; time is marching on:
- Don’t forget to pay yourself. You pay everyone else; it’s time to start putting money away for you. It doesn’t take much. If you put just $10 a week into a savings account that pays 3% interest, after a year you’d have over $520. After 5 years your account would be worth over $2,800. That’s the magic of compound interest, a concept which has made many people very rich. Put it to work for you. It doesn’t have to be a lot; it just has to be consistent. You wouldn’t even notice $10 a week, so why not do it? It’s almost like free money. And you could certainly find an instrument that pays more than 3% along the way.
- Buy insurance. Sure, rates can be high and you’re struggling to stay within your budget as it is. Well, as you get older, life insurance rates only go up, so they’ll never be as inexpensive as they are right now. And a catastrophic accident can wipe out a family’s assets very quickly. Life insurance is one of the key factors in planning for your family’s security and financial well-being. You really can’t afford not to be without it.
- Pay off your high-interest debt; better still, get out of debt altogether! If you own a home, change your non-deductible debt to tax-deductible debt through a home equity loan. But whether you own a home or not, take steps to not only pay down, but to eliminate your debt once and for all. That’s a major cornerstone of true financial freedom. You can start immediately, right where you are. Develop a plan to pay more than just your minimum payments, beginning with your higher- interest debts. And don’t continue digging the same debt hole as you’re climbing out of it. Adopt a “below your means” mentality and much faster than you would have imagined, those debts will have melted away.
- Build an emergency cash fund. Again, just like paying yourself, put a little bit away consistently. If you get unexpected money in the form of a bonus or gift, deposit it into the fund. It’s good to have an amount equal to at least several months’ income socked away in order to be able to take care of any unforeseen circumstances.
There, that wasn’t difficult at all, was it? The beginnings of a financial plan that anyone can implement. As you become more financially savvy, you’ll be able to incorporate other savings and investment vehicles which will accelerate you down the road to total financial independence. But start these today, right now! You’ll be glad you did.
