Setting UP a Fund for Emergencies
It is very important to set up an emergency fund when there is a sudden big need to pay for expenses such as accidents. We also need it when we lose our job. When a sudden need for money comes in, it would be devastating if we are going to use our retirement savings. Some experts say that setting up an emergency fund is the first thing that you should do when managing your finances. It is best to save a value of 3 to 6 months living expenses in setting up an emergency fund. The fund that you will create should be easily accessed so that any time that emergency comes in, you can use it immediately. If the income you generate is so unpredictable, you better save up for a value of 9 months living expenses.
Setting up a Fund for Retirement
An expert said that an average individual will need around 70% of his current yearly income to enable the same lifestyle that they had after retiring. Those who will retire soon, computing the savings that they have currently versus their needs in the future may give them an idea of how to manage their finances. For people who are averaging an annual salary of $ 50,000 are recommended to save about 9 times the income they make if they are planning to stop working at the age of 65. It is said that those who are significantly earning more than that will need to make more savings because what they will get from social security will not be as sustainable as they expect to. People will need to plan ahead if they will retire earlier than 65 years old because that means that they need to save more. For younger people who are starting to save and create a fund for retirement have an easier time staying on track compared to those who will start later in life. A 25-year-old employee who intends to retire at the age of 65 should save 10% of the income he is making is what the experts recommend. For those who will save for retirement at a later age, say 35 years old, it would be harder and need to double the effort by saving 20% yearly until the retirement age of 65.
Investing Your Money To Make it Grow
Everyone shouldn’t have a hard time deciding that they should save money for retirement. The difficulty comes in allocating them for a diversified investment. It is difficult to decide how much you will invest in stocks against bonds. To give you an idea to help you decide on how to allocate your savings for investments, investment in stocks have a great potential for your money to grow but it carries a lot of risks. If you want to be on the safe side and still want some growth on your money then go for the bonds. For you to understand it more clearly, shares of stocks are investments and you earn through dividends that you receive while bonds are actually proof of indebtedness. There are 2 types of stocks, the common stocks, and the preferred stocks. When a corporation goes into a dissolution or becomes bankrupt, the first to be paid are those who hold the bonds. The debts are first paid before the investors get their share of what is left with the asset of the corporation. The preferred stock holders will be the first investors to get their share of what is left with the wealth of the corporation and last would be the common stockholders. Investment in stocks can provide you high income but it has risks involved, unlike bonds that are almost assured of getting paid when the company has the capacity to pay debts. There are short-term investments and long-term investments in stocks. The value of stocks are fluctuating, it will go high or low on a day to day basis. You will see massive growth in a long-term investment compared to a short-term one. You also have the option to invest in a mutual fund which is like investing in stocks. The difference is that there is someone who manages and diversifies the investments in stocks in a mutual fund. If you want a long-term investment without monitoring the various shares of stock and not get stressed out of thinking, you can go for a mutual fund. Today, the digital currencies have become popular and can be considered as investment instruments. The top digital currency today is Bitcoin followed by Ethereum. There are also other digital currencies that are gaining popularity. You can trade or invest in digital currencies to gain profit. Just like investing in stocks, the digital currencies will give you a high return on investment but it carries a lot of risks involved too. The important thing in investing is to do your own research. You can test the waters first and start small. When you are gaining more experience and confidence in trading, you can add more money to your diversified investment. It is also important for you to know that it would be wise if you will diversify your investments like you can have bonds, investment in stocks and digital currencies. When you diversify your investment, be sure that you can monitor them effectively.
Insurance is a Necessity
There are insurances that you need that are not mandated legally like disability and life insurance. Those insurance are very important in managing your finances. There are employers that provide disability insurance to their employees but the money that you may get on it fully depends on the income that you make. Start young in getting life insurance to get it at a lower price. Another insurance that you should have is the long-term care insurance that will cover the cost of in-home care or nursing homes. Many think that those things will be covered by health insurance but the truth is, it is limited in its coverage.