Do you find it annoying when your parents nag you to save more? You are not alone. Yes, it is true that the older generation focuses a lot on future while current generation focuses on the present enjoyments. Both are important for a happy life, thus striking a balance between the two is the key. Additionally, with changing times enjoying your present is equally important. Here are some ways to ensure that you live happily while satisfying your parent’s demands:
Pay Yourself First
‘Paying yourself first’ does not refer to how you earn money, contrary it refers to how you save money. Before you buy your groceries or pay your bills, set aside a portion of your income to save. Think of personal savings as the first bill you must pay each month.
There are a lot of advantages from paying ‘yourself first’ and prioritising savings. To start with, there is this obvious thing about building an enormous saving balance. Yes, regular saving exercise is an amazing method to build a large nest egg. This money can be used in case of emergencies, for retirement or to purchase a home/car.
Spend Some Time on Setting Life’s Objectives
Imagine having to shoot an arrow without a target. Where would you aim? And say you did aim at some random point, what would the purpose be? Get the idea?
Figuring out your short-term, mid-term, and long-term objectives is necessary. You must prioritise your goals in order of importance, and then analyse how long you need to save for each of them. Your retirement could be many years away, but your immediate goals (short-term) could be in a year or two. Finally, you must figure out the amount you need to save each month to achieve these objectives.
Irrespective of what life stage you are in, set tangible and realistic goals, follow them, and track your progress. This is the key to leading a peaceful life.
Prepare for the Unforeseen
There are moments in life that can shake things up for you and change everything. This may include getting a pink slip at work or a medical emergency, or it could be hearing some big news or finding the perfect job. Not all unexpected events are negative, but generally, the big ones affect your financial future.
The ideal approach to deal with such situations is to be prepared for the unforeseen ahead of time. For instance, you can buy life insurance for your family or your spouse and secure their future against your untimely demise. Additionally, you can have adequate health coverage (considering the rising healthcare costs) and home insurance in place (to secure against theft, fire, natural calamities and so on). These safety nets can make a difficult situation much easier to get through and help you enjoy your life without compromising your needs.
Automate Investments
If you try to do everything by yourself, chances are you spend too much time managing, and not enough time achieving. This may include everyday stuff like transferring money or paying bills; personal stuff like saving for future vacations or figuring out a smarter personal budget; or the big, life goals like paying down your mortgage or retirement planning. However, automating your investments will make your path easier. Instead of investing a lump sum from time to time, payments can be made on a monthly basis (which can be done through automation). Choosing this option will help deduct an amount automatically on a predetermined date every month.
When you automate your personal finance and investments, you free up some time that you can spend in other ways, with friends, family, on your passion project, or your career.
Furthermore, if you automate the allocation of your funds to the right place in the first place, you make it very hard to use it for something it’s not intended for. For instance, if you have automated funds for senior citizen pension scheme or other pension plans, it will ensure that no matter what pops up, you stay on the right retirement planning track.
Aim to Retire Rich
Aren’t you working hard to retire peacefully? How would you like to spend your retirement? Travelling? Playing golf? Volunteering for a noble cause? Transforming a hobby into a second career or merely spending more time with your family?
The goal to retire happy and rich entirely relies on how your current income is utilised to build a secure future (a future in the absence of steady income). Although this sounds a little scary but stories about your grandparents who may be living a fantastic retirement life want to make you believe even you can retire rich. And retirement plans like pension plans can give you the freedom to live your retirement dream without any difficulty.
In retirement, how you choose to invest your time is up to you. But the choices you make about your money today will affect your future. So, make sure that your decisions are flexible enough to accommodate your evolving needs.
Conclusion:
Although, the ways mentioned above may not be magical, but they are certainly more organised ways of looking at life and its challenges. Yes, some of these steps are hard, and they may take time to stick, but it all begins with awareness. So, think about your life, organise it well, practice what works, and enjoy it to the fullest!
