When you’re in your teens and your 20s, it’s easy not to stress too much and even ignore the topic of money.
Oftentimes, people in their 20s are satisfied with the money coming in each month. As long as it’s enough to cover the rent, pay the bills, and allow you to indulge in a shopping spree every once in a while, 20-year olds are fine and dandy.
But once you reach your 30s, adulthood suddenly becomes a lot more daunting as reality sets in. Now, you don’t have time to waste time. Serious real-life issues such as mortgages, debts, marriage, and children suddenly replace the need to spend money on spontaneous vacations and late nights out with coworkers and friends. Your 40s? You need to get on this like yesterday.
Right, the financial decisions you make have a long-term impact on your future– and your family’s future.
Before your 30s, these are the most critical years in your life. This is the time when your salary begins to pick up and when you start forming lifelong habits. If you act smart with your money, you’ll be rewarded for years to come.
But have no fear. The future is brighter than you think.
Today, we’re going to go over how to make smart money decisions in your 30s and 40s! Let’s get started!
The Intelligent Investor
by Benjamin Graham
⏱ 12 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Make a Budget
The first step to smart money management is creating a budget. Budgets sound all boring and tedious, but they’re the only way you can easily keep track of where your money is. Budgets aren’t just writing down how much you need for your grocery bills.
A reasonable budget keeps track of every single penny of your income, and in turn, allocates money accordingly. You’re documenting how much money is coming in, how much is going out, what you’re buying, and how much you’re saving up.
Stop Going out for Entertainment
Now, you have set your budget. You may be noticing a lot of money that, instead of being used for necessary bills or being put into savings, is going to entertainment shows such as eating out, going out to restaurants, and going to bars.
A lot of people spend a lot of their 20s in bars and restaurants. Maybe it’s something just as simple as coming home from work and being too tired to cook, but that won’t work out in the long run.
If you truly want to hang out with your friends, consider other fun activities such as hosting or going to dinner parties, barbecues, potlucks, or even gathering around for game nights. While these activities may cost a little money, it’s only a fraction of what it will cost to meet up at trendy bars and restaurants.
Make an Emergency Fund
There’s no time like your 30s to allocate an emergency fund. When you were younger, it was acceptable to live paycheck to paycheck, but this can’t go on. An emergency fund is for a rainy day– or months. It’s a liquid savings account that you can put money in for emergency expenses that don’t have a spot in your budget.
This includes unexpected repairs, car breaking down, home maintenance, and medical emergencies. Experts advise that a “sufficient” emergency fund should contain enough savings to cover three to six months of expenses.
This, even in the event– the worst-case scenario of losing your job or having to take time off suddenly– you’re able to keep your head above water until you can find another source of income.
Watch Your Credit
One of the most important parts of smart money decisions is knowing your credit score. We cannot stress how important it is to monitor your credit. The next step in trying to improve that credit.
Everyone should check their credit report every year. If you regularly review your credit report, you’ll be able to fix errors right away and get on top of what needs to be fixed.
Health Insurance
You’re getting older, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, you’re past that stage in your 20s when you can shrug off or wait out most problems.
Now, focusing on your health insurance is more important than ever.
Whether your next medical emergency is two, ten years from now– or even next week, you need to get serious about health insurance.
Now, how can you do that? The first step is understanding health insurance policies and picking one that makes you feel comfortable and makes the most sense for you and your family. Let’s say you’re single and perfectly healthy; a low-cost, high-deductible policy can be suitable. If not, explore other options.
And speaking of insurance, let’s talk for a minute about life insurance and long-term disability insurance.
These types of insurance differ greatly from health insurance because not everyone needs them. But they do make sense for those who depend on their partners’ ability to earn the majority of the household income. If someone happens to the top earner in the family, the rest needs a backup income.
Hustle
Side hustlers, rise up. This is your time to shine. Suppose you have an entrepreneurial spirit and would like to increase your income, allowing you to make financial decisions quickly.
In that case, there are hundreds of side hustles that can prevent income stagnation and maybe even allow you to indulge in expenses that don’t have a place in your budget.
Anything from driving for Uber to using a hobby to make money will make a drastic difference, which leads us to our next point.
Find a Hobby that Makes Money
This doesn’t necessarily have to be a hobby that makes money– it can be a hobby that saves you money.
The number of hobbies that can earn or help you save money is astonishing. For example, some people like to brew beer. In the beginning, no one is paying them to do it, but you know what? They’re spending less money on homebrewed beers than the craft beers sold at the store.
Knitting is the OG hobby that’s the perfect example of this. If you’re particularly talented, you can sell your stuff for hundreds online to other people.
And you’ll get to save money if you make your own creative and beautiful scarves, gloves, and clothes. And hey, you’ll save up on gift expenses for loved ones if your gift only costs some threads and needlework.
Start knitting, sell your craft, teach lessons about something you know and are passionate about, or even start a blog.
Don’t Spend That Raise
When the average person receives a raise or a bonus at work, their first reaction to celebrate– followed by finding a way to spend it. After partying up with your friends and families, going on shopping sprees, and if it’s a particularly admirable raise, then the average person will upgrade their home to a bigger house or get a flashier car.
This has a name, and it’s called “lifestyle inflation,” and you need to avoid it.
When you get a raise, maybe allow yourself to celebrate a little, but start saving up that money or a portion of it. Don’t adjust your lifestyle to take advantage of the raise. This is how to build wealth.
Related: The Only Two Finance Books You Need to Read
Plan for Retirement
Ah, we have reached the staple of “smart money decisions.” The dreaded retirement plan.
This is the time to plan for your comfortable and hopefully luxurious retirement. How do we do that? By starting to save up immediately. An overwhelming amount of financial experts recommend saving up at least 15% of your income for retirement.
This means that every time you receive a bonus or get a raise, deposit that money in your retirement fund. Your future self will thank you.
Think Again About Remodeling Your Home
This next piece of advice is related to real estate. If you want to be financially responsible in your 30s and 40s– and 50s and later on, then stop making wild investments in your home. What does this mean?
A lot of time, people go overboard with their houses– even the act of buying them. They think of it as an investment, but it doesn’t always work out the way they want.
If you’re not flipping homes or renting them out, then your house is not an investment. On the other hand, yes, rental property is an investment. Flipping properties is a worthy investment, but your own home won’t make you money. It will cost you money.
Think of it this way: are your groceries considered an investment? Is your car one? You’ll find that while they’re vital and necessary expenses, they’re more like bills.
If your mindset is that you may someday sell that property, keep in mind that no one has control over the market. You may get lucky, and someone will appreciate that floor to ceiling fireplace you had installed, or the market can turn on you.
In fact, Remodeling Magazine analyzed major home improvement projects and found out that they didn’t raise home value any more than what they cost.
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