Foundations of Personal Finance
A financial plan should align with the financial goals of an individual and an investor should address each aspect of finance including income, taxes, insurance, debt, expenses, savings and retirement.
Income
It is a good idea to look at all sources of income including fat pay cheque and handling money itself is an art and science.
Taxes
Everything we earn is going to be taxed and investors should get familiar with state taxes. An individual can take advantage of any possible tax relief or personal deductions.
Insurance
We should necessarily have insurance including car insurance, home damage insurance, injury insurance, illness insurance or disability insurance. Investors can’t predict what will happen in the future and insurance is an indispensable safety net.
Debt
It is to be kept in mind that not all debts are bad and we can incur debt for many reasons. Housing loans and education loans are investments that are absolutely essential for financial future. Bad debt comes from buying things that are not necessary and it can be added up very fast. Knowing the difference between bad debt and good debt is very important and debt should be paid off in a timely manner.
Expenses
Investors should ensure that expenses never exceed income and expenses higher than income often paves the way towards bad debt. Investors should keep a close eye on spending so that they can identify areas that need a cutback.
Savings
Savings are often viewed as an expense in the contemporary digital age and saving a part of our income will yield the best results. It has also another benefit of earning interest.
Retirement
It has been pointed out that it is never too early to plan for retirement and the savings accounts and benefits available to us will vary by location.
Investments
The best option is to invest if we have saved enough amounts of money and personal finance professionals will be of immense help to find out the best investment opportunities.
Ourself
It is an undisputable fact that the most important element of our financial wellbeing is ourselves. A typical investor should necessarily have to invest in education, experience, skillset, and health. Keeping ourself healthy is helpful in saving thousands of dollars in medical expenses and keep us earning for a very long time.
There are many ways to make a financial plan including doing ourselves, using a robo advisor, or working with an ace financial planner. The list of financial goals contains both short term goals and long term goals. Examples of short term financial goals include paying off debt or buying a new premium car and financial goals that can be achieved within the next five years come under the umbrella of short term goals. Medium term financial goals can be achieved within the next five to ten years and best examples include down payment on a home and starting our own business. Long term financial goals are financial goals that can be achieved within a timeframe of ten or more years and college education and retirement are classic examples of long term financial goals. There are lots of online tools that can be used to design a good financial plan easily sitting at the comfort of our sweet home.