Savvy Library

15 Savvy Ways To Build Your Wealth At Any Age

Money can be a major source of stress regardless of your age. Even when you’re young and carefree, you have to make sure that you’ve got enough cash in the bank to cover your rent, food, and any other bills. When you get a little older and start a family of your own, these worries multiply, as it’s not just you that needs taking care of. For this reason, even if you’re not one to chase riches, almost all of us can agree that building wealth and achieving financial comfort is important. Whether it means cutting down on spending habits, cancel certain subscriptions, get in touch with a company who can provide wealth management jacksonville fl services, for example, or start investing money, there are many options that people have when it comes to getting their financial life back on track. It is never too late.

Keeping that in mind, here are fifteen ways you can grow wealth whatever your age.

Credit

1. Figure Out Your Budget

Nothing is achieved in this world without a plan, and your finances are no exception. It’s for this reason that budgeting is so important. Without a thorough budget to follow each month, you have little idea how much money is coming in and how much is going out of your account. This could leave you with less than you need, causing major problems until payday. With that in mind, you need to sit down and write out a budget, assigning every dollar you have to a specific purpose.

2. Live Below Your Means

Overspending massively impacts your ability to save, leaving you financially unprepared for the future. Because of this, you need to make sure that you’re living below your means and setting aside a fair sum of money each month for your retirement, savings, and emergency fund. This is especially important when you’re young. Instead of buying flashy cars and renting out fancy apartments, you should start small and raise your standard of living slowly and over time.

3. Steer Clear Of Debt

As a general rule, you should always avoid buying something unless you can afford to pay for it then and there. While you may have the ability to use your credit card or take out a payday loan, doing so means that you’ll have interest to pay. This, of course, will cost you more money in the long run and can also damage your credit score. Sometimes payments get away from people and they end up needing to get Payday loan consolidation in order to help them clear their finances. If you are going to get yourself into debt, just make sure that you’re able to make the repayments. If you can’t, you may have to tackle fees and charges. If you’re not sure whether you’ll be able to keep up with the payments with the added interest, do your research before getting payday loans online to ensure you’re getting the best rates available to you.

4. Invest In Your Education

That being said, there are some situations where taking out a loan is understandable. One such instance is paying for your education. After all, the more education and qualifications you have, the better your job prospects. This means that you should stand out among the competition and find it easier to secure higher paying roles in the future. However, you should still try to pay your student loans off as soon as possible, as you would with any other type of debt.

5. Speak To Your Employer

Working and studying simultaneously can be a challenge, but, if it means an increase in your salary, then it will all be worth it. Unfortunately, your boss is unlikely to just hand out extra cash at your graduation ceremony, which is why you need to go and speak to them and explain why you deserve it. Have an idea in your head of what you want to say and make sure that you remain polite. You can do this even without extra qualifications, but you do need a persuasive argument.

6. Make Some Extra Money

Whether your employer said no or they didn’t offer you enough, you may need to find ways to earn some extra money on the side of your regular income. Thankfully, there are plenty of ideas that you could consider, including an additional part-time job. If your contract stops you from doing this, then you could come up with a few side hustle ideas and be your own boss on evenings and weekends. You could also go through your home and sell whatever you don’t want.

7. Increase Your Pension Contributions

Another great way to make some extra money is increasing contributions to your retirement savings. Many employers offer to match the contributions made by their workers up to a certain amount, which means that, if you put money away, you will essentially get free cash from your boss. The government also chips in too. The amount you need to save will depend on a number of factors, but most people suggest 15% of your household income as a good rule of thumb.

Credit

8. Eliminate Most Unnecessary Expenses

Unfortunately, all of this saving and extra cash will all be for nothing if you continue to waste money of things you don’t actually need. For this reason, you should take a look at your regular monthly expenses and try to eliminate a few that aren’t really needed. These could include your phone contract, gym membership, or the coffees you buy on the way to work each day. Of course, you should still have some luxuries, but you need to choose these wisely.

9. Don’t Skimp On Insurance

Despite what many people assume, insurance is far from an unnecessary expense. Although it is possible to purchase more coverage than you need, it’s much better to spend a little extra cash now than be stuck in a stressful and costly emergency you can’t afford later. That being said, an insurance specialist can advise you on the policies you may need, which will save you from wasting cash on those you don’t. Don’t ruin your finances because you were underprepared.

10. Build An Emergency Fund

As well as your insurance, you also need to make sure that you build up a large and healthy emergency fund. Ideally, this should cover all of your household expenses for anywhere between three and six months. This is necessary for those times where your insurance doesn’t cover you. Without an emergency fund to fall back on, you’d have to dip into your savings or put yourself into debt, neither of which are ideal situations when you’re trying to become financially stable.

11. Find Out About Investing

You can start investing at almost any age, but starting out relatively young is usually the best way to go. After all, when you’re a little younger, you have fewer responsibilities, so taking a few risks here and there isn’t too much of an issue. When you feel like you’re ready, go and find out more about the investment opportunities you could get into. There are a lot of places to invest your money too. At the moment, tax-advantaged real estate investments are popular so you can always go to a company like 1031 Exchange to find out more about it. Although there is always a chance that you will lose money, starting small and doing plenty of research makes it a lot less likely.

12. Buy Rather Than Rent

Real estate is an investment opportunity most view as relatively low risk. After all, whether you’re purchasing a Lakeville Residence condo or Chicago townhouse, there are always going to be people out there that need to buy or rent the property you now own. If you want to make long-term savings, then purchasing a home, rather than renting one, is usually a good way to go. After all, renting doesn’t offer you a physical asset at the end of the transaction like buying does.

13. Forget About The Joneses

While it’s true that buying generally works out better than renting, this depends purely on your circumstances. If you happen to move around a lot, for example, then you’d need the flexibility that renting offers. For this reason, you should only do what works for you and makes you happy, instead of trying to be like everyone else. Trying to keep up with the Joneses is never a good idea, as it rarely makes you happy and can cost you money you can’t afford to lose.

Credit

14. Marry Someone Financially Savvy

When you get married, you agree to stay with one another for richer or for poorer. Unfortunately, if it’s your spouse that is causing your lack of funds, then there are going to be some issues at some point down the line. With that in mind, it’s crucial that you discuss finances with your partner before you get married and make sure that you’re on the same page. As long as your spouse is also financially savvy, you should have no trouble building your wealth.

15. Don’t Put It Off

Although there are people that get rich overnight, this occurs incredibly rarely and is unlikely to happen to you. Regular people need to work for years to build their wealth and achieve financial comfort and stability. Because of this, you need to stop putting things off and get saving right away. After all, the longer you take to get started, the harder it’s going to be to make the money you want and need. There will be some struggles to face along the way, but never give up.

Being wealthy isn’t the most important thing in the world, but it can make your life a whole lot easier. For this reason, you need to stop wasting cash and do what you can to reach financial comfort. This won’t be easy, but, hopefully, with the savvy advice above, you have an idea of where to start.

5 Comments

  • Dana Rodriguez

    These are all great tips. I try to budget bit I must admit I am not the best at it. We do keep an emergency fund.

  • Linda Manns Linneman

    These are some great suggestions. I could really use this information for my life. Thank you so much for sharing this

  • Tamra Phelps

    All very good tips, and I suspect we all are violating at least one of these, lol. I know I need to work on a few of these.