Ultimate Guide To Improving Your Personal Finance

Financial planning theory is the same for business budget planning as it is for personal planning. The theoretical planning involves five simple steps that allow you to identify your budget’s potential and set financial goals for your personal budget.

Financial planning is important because it ensures you’re not just working for your money, but that your money is also working for you: Planning puts a roadmap to your finances, maximizing each dollar — no matter how many you have.

You’ve probably heard “patience is a virtue.” This is a vital lesson in finance as well as in life. The desire for immediate gratification, or impatience, is another natural and childish trait. When left to run a muck, this trait leads to an unnecessarily expensive lifestyle and uncontrolled debt.

Many people earn, spend, save, and invest their money without a great deal of thought or planning. They have only vague goals and don’t analyze whether their limited financial resources are being put to the most productive uses to achieve those goals and provide financial stability. Without a financial plan and accompanying tools such as a budget, you’re going to have a tough time knowing where you’re going or how best to get there.

Time can be a critical factor when it comes to investing and borrowing money. Learn about the time value of money and the influence it can have on the value of a dollar in this short video.

Many investments are now available to beginners, there’s no excuse to skip out. And that’s good news, because investing is the best way to grow your wealth.

Do you know how much money you saved last month? Do you know how much you spent on food, gas, clothes, random stuff you probably didn’t even need and already forgot about?

If you answered “no” to either of these questions, you are likely missing out on being able to save a ton more money than you are currently.

Insurance is an important element of any sound financial plan. Different kinds of insurance help protect you and your loved ones in different ways against the cost of accidents, illness, disability, and death.

A well-constructed financial plan has two parts – wealth creation and wealth preservation. Personal financial risk management addresses the preservation aspect of the plan.

Risk management is everywhere in business, but what most people don’t think about is that risk management is also in our daily lives. Every choice we make has a consequence and a reward. I recently sat down to speak with Ffx Academy founder, Patrick Kenney about ways people can apply risk management in their personal lives.

Through thick and thin, in good times and bad, the people who are successful at setting goals and achieving them  — at least financially — are those who create a financial plan and follow it. Indeed, if you want financial security, having a good plan is the only way to achieve it.

The good news is that it’s not hard to create one — and here are eight simple steps to help you do so.

It’s smart to look at ways you might minimize your tax liability. That’s especially true for 2018, the first year that the sweeping new tax legislation (commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) generally applies. In light of the new income tax rates and significant changes to traditional deductions, it’s particularly important to speak with your tax advisor, says accountant Vinay Navani, of Wilkin & Guttenplan P.C. speak with them about some or all of these ideas.

Who better to ask how to plan for retirement than those who are living it now? Nationwide and consumer research company Yankelovich surveyed current retirees to find out their firsthand retirement advice.

This step-by-step guide empowers you to take action by building a complete financial portfolio. This means that you have fully funded retirement accounts, are debt-free, have a six-month emergency cash reserve, own diversified investments across different asset classes, and invest in yourself.

Diversification is a familiar term to most investors. In the most general sense, it can be summed up with this phrase: “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” While that sentiment certainly captures the essence of the issue, it provides little guidance on the practical implications of the role diversification plays in an investor’s portfolio and offers no insight into how a diversified portfolio is actually created.

At its core, investing is simple. That doesn’t mean it is easy, just that the behaviors necessary for success are fairly straightforward. By reminding yourself of what they are, and always keeping them in the back of your mind, you can improve your odds of reaching financial independence as you amass a collection of assets that create passive income.

Fraudsters are counting on you not to investigate before you invest. Fend them off by doing your own digging. It’s not enough to ask for more information or for references – fraudsters have no incentive to set you straight. Take the time to do your own independent research.

Sixteen of the most common securities frauds are listed below. Study this list and become familiar with the common characteristics of each fraud so that you recognize it when you see it and can avoid getting duped.

Educating yourself about investment securities fraud is the best defense against becoming its next victim. Once your money is gone, you can’t get it back. Protect yourself starting today.

We sifted through these budgeting and saving services, selecting the most helpful in a variety of categories. Whether you need something that actually pays your bills for you or simply lets you know when your bank account is running dry, the solution is on this list. Bonus: Many of these tools are free.

A good financial adviser asks questions to understand a client’s finances and goals; do-it-yourselfers can find tools to replicate those steps. The internet is awash with information, including tools for creating (and keeping to) a budget, seeing how much home you can afford, and calculating loan payments or your readiness for retirement.

Take a look through the selection of free tools we’ve collected together, and you should find something that suits your personal finance needs, making it easier to keep track of your money. This free personal finance software could hopefully save you some money too or, at the very least, see where you’re currently spending it.

This personal finance case study focuses on a younger couple who are completely overwhelmed with debt and desperate to get their financial lives turned around before the birth of their first child. Their goal is to reduce their consumer debt over the next few years and start saving for retirement and establish college funds for their children.

Millions of baby boomers are moving into their senior years with empty pockets and declining choices to earn a living. And right behind them is a younger generation facing the same challenges. In this deeply personal talk, author Elizabeth White opens up an honest conversation about financial trouble and offers practical advice for how to live a richly textured life on a limited income.

Struggling to budget and manage finances is common — but talking honestly and openly about it isn’t. Why do we hide our problems around money? In this thoughtful, personal talk, author Tammy Lally encourages us to break free of “money shame” and shows us how to stop equating our bank accounts with our self-worth.

The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life. In the dark, bewildering, trap-infested jungle of misinformation and opaque riddles that is the world of investment, JL Collins is the fatherly wizard on the side of the path, offering a simple map, warm words of encouragement and the tools to forge your way through with confidence.

Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties. From tackling taxes to boosting credit scores, Get a Financial Life can show those just starting out how to decrease their debt, avoid common money mistakes, and navigate the world of personal finance in today’s ever-changing landscape.

The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. Design a sure-fire plan for paying off all debt—meaning cars, houses, everything. Recognize the 10 most dangerous money myths (these will kill you). Secure a big, fat nest egg for emergencies and retirement!

The Compound Effect. No gimmicks. No Hyperbole. No Magic Bullet. The Compound Effect is a distillation of the fundamental principles that have guided the most phenomenal achievements in business, relationships, and beyond. This easy-to-use, step-by-step operating system allows you to multiply your success, chart your progress, and achieve any desire.

Personal & Family Financial Planning. This course will address many critical personal financial management topics in order to help you learn prudent habits both while in school and throughout your lifetime.

Financial Planning for Young Adults. This course is designed to provide an introduction to basic financial planning concepts for young adults. The FPYA course is organized across eight separate modules within a 4-week window. Topics covered include financial goal setting, saving and investing, budgeting, financial risk, borrowing and credit.

Personal Finance Masterclass – Easy Guide to Better Finances. This is a course that teaches normal people like you the skills and knowledge to truly understand how money works. It shows you the path towards financial freedom.

Personal Finance Course by Purdue University. Manage your money more effectively by learning practical solutions to key investment, credit, insurance and retirement questions.