9 Steps To A Better Financial Future

While talking about finance, it is a known fact that “no one has ever achieved financial fitness with a January resolution that is abandoned by February”. These words by Suze Orman best describe the role of persistence in building a better financial goal. So is it only a goal? No. Mind you, only a goal does not secure your future financially. You need much more than that. You need a practical goal, that can be measured and implemented successfully. So is a secured financial future possible ? Of course, yes. Is it easy? Yes, if you follow the correct approach.

So, what exactly are the steps to a better financial future? Let’s discuss in details.

1. Expenditure has a definition. The sooner you know it, the better

If there is some way how your expenses can be defined, it just has to be what you are left with after investing sufficiently and not the other way round. The reason why we are often broke is because we try to make it work the other way round. Trust me, it is not going to work.

2. Did someone tell you that there is a time to start planning?

Yes there is. It is NOW. If you think that you are merely 25 and that you might wait for a couple of years to start planning, you will soon realise that you are wrong, when you will not be left with any boodle in your account (God forbid, but still). Well you definitely are not early but there is a possibility that you might be late.

3. Your investments have a link to your head (NOT heart)

There are a few decisions you just cannot make using your heart unless you want a guaranteed failure. Investment is one of those things. Do not decide hastily when it comes to investment. In the world of investment, go slow but go sure. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgement.

4. Go LONGER

One of the essential lessons any successful investor will tell you is that you should plan longer. Short term investments are less safe and thus, opting for them would only lead to chaos and nothing substantial. So always think long term while thinking about investments. Long term investments directly lead to a better financial future.

5. There is a pneumonic to a better financial future

I am not kidding! There really is something like this. Guess what it is called? SMART! Now guess what does it stand for? It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time- bound financial goals. That’s it! This is all that you need to work on if you want a better financial future.

6. Revision is as essential as vision

Revision here just means reviewing and monitoring your portfolio. One of the major reasons why our financial plans are not up to the mark is because they lack this essential trait. This is not something that can be done and dusted. It needs regular monitoring, reviewing, monitoring and required action.

7. DON’T 1: Say NO to debt

“A man in debt is so far a slave” as per Ralph Waldo Emerson. Why then embrace being a slave? I would go a step further. If you want to know a secret to wreck your fiscal plans, try debt. So if you have a “do not” list, add debt to it. Make it in caps or bold or even Italics if need be.

8. DON’T 2: Spend more than what you can afford

Remember what Henry David Thoreau had said- “that man is the richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” If you are spending extravagantly just to please people you do not even know, you are making a big mistake and guess how are you going to pay for the same? By a substantial reduction in your bank balance! The one question you really need to ask yourself before a major expenditure is- “CAN I AFFORD IT?”

9. DON’T 3: Brag about social status

This is somehow related to the previous one. Unnecessary bragging would not lead you anywhere. It will only compel you to confine to “certain” norms of the society which are a waste and drive you to bankruptcy slowly and steadily (or worse, all at once). Now, do you want to keep up with the joneses?

The only thing I want to tell you to sum it all up nicely is “keep it all simple, else you might end up broke, silly.”