Money can be tricky to manage, regardless of what we earn it never seems to be quite enough. So many of us live paycheck to paycheck, and sometimes even making ends meet can be a struggle. For this reason it’s important to control our spending, to budget carefully and think about our finances not just now but in the long run too. Here are a few things to bear in mind to plan for a happy financial future.
Get Insured
Taking out insurance means that if the worst were to happen, you would be covered rather than being left of pocket with a large bill to pay. Contents and buildings insurance will protect your home- so if you were to be burgled, come under attack by an arsonist, experience a flood or anything else that damaged your property, your insurance would cover it. If you live in a country where there’s no access to free healthcare, health and dental insurance are both worth paying for. If you have pets, pet insurance means if they get ill and need an operation or treatment you’re not forking out thousands. Plan ahead, think of the things that would cost you a lot of money if they went wrong and look for insurance to cover them.
Invest Your Money
When you do have extra cash in the bank, instead of leaving it sat there you could make investments. This could turn a sum of money into something much bigger, and also gives you assets you could sell off if times became difficult. Take property for example, you could become a landlord and get money every month off a tenant, but worst case scenario you could sell it and free up the funds. Since property generally appreciates in value each year, you’re almost guaranteed to get more back than what you put in. Precious metals is another example, take gold which has doubled in value in the last decade. If you’re happy to invest and wait a little longer for returns a gold IRA good option. Investments also mean you don’t have direct access to money, so cant waste it but you can free this backup if needed.
Start a Savings Account
While insurance is good, sometimes in life when things happen you need access to cold hard cash- and fast. Having some savings in the bank as a buffer is something that everyone should be aiming to do. If you have things that you’re saving for, whether it be a new sofa, tv or holiday, have these in a separate account. Then have your main savings account for emergencies only. Maybe you’ve been let go from your job and need money to pay your mortgage for a few months. It might even be a case of being stranded abroad on vacation and needing to book more flights, or something else could happen out of the blue where you need cash. If you have savings and can access this kind of money when situations crop up you will save yourself a lot of time, hassle and expense compared with having to take out new lines of credit.
