Personal Finance and Investing: A Simplified Guide
Setting short term goals and long term goals are important as far as personal finance and investing are concerned. Creating a master list of financial goals is the first step in personal finance and planning. It is quite important to build an emergency fund that can cover at least three months of emergency living expenses. Investors should keep their new credit card charges limited to what they can pay off easily and paying off existing credit card balances is required. It is an intelligent idea to start saving at least 10% of gross salary every year for retirement.
Investors can save for child’s education in a tax advantaged 529 plan and creating a budget paves the way towards making financial goal reachable. Excel or Google Docs spreadsheet can be used to create a budget and track progress. Budgeting apps synchronized with banking accounts make the whole task of tracking spending very easy. Making an emergency fund starts with setting a goal for how much protection we want to build. It is ideal to open a separate bank or credit union savings account as emergency fund and keeping emergency fund in regular checking account introduces the temptation to use the cash for non emergencies.
Paying Off High Rate Debt as a Smart Investment Strategy
Highest yields are paid by online savings banks and individuals can open a high end savings account and setup an automatic transfer from checking account into savings account. Paying off high rate debt is a smart investment move and the average 17% interest rate charged on unpaid credit card balances adversely affects building financial security. Individuals with a solid credit score can think of checking if they can qualify for a balance transfer deal to a new card that will waive interest payments for an initial period. The very best way to save for retirement is to utilize special accounts that give us valuable tax breaks. Retirement accounts like 401K and 403B are immensely popular in the promised land of United States of America.
A person with earned income can contribute to their individual retirement account and many brokerages provide IRA. Investors can avail an upfront tax break with 401K and 403B accounts and traditional IRA accounts are eligible for upfront tax break. Roth 401K and IRAs offer the tax break in retirement. People in their 20s can start saving at least 10% of their gross salary as soon as possible and independent contractors and gig workers qualify for SEP IRA. SEP IRA stands for Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Arrangement. Only traditional format of SEP IRA is available and there is no Roth version of SEP IRA.
Consulting with a Certified Financial Planner
Roth 401K and Roth IRA are beneficial for individuals coming under lower tax bracket and there is no income cutoff in order to become eligible to save in Roth IRA. Individuals in their 30s can save 15% of their gross salary and consulting with a certified financial planner to work through retirement savings is highly recommended. Personal finance planners charge a flat fee or hourly fee for a specific assignment and Roth retirement savings can be used to create tax diversification. It is a great idea to invest for retirement with a very long term focus and stocks deliver high returns than bonds. The right stock bond mixture is dependent upon personal goals, willingness for risk, and the number of years we hold our investments.