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Personal finance is the application of financial principles to financial decisions made by a family unit or individual. It deals with many aspects of financial issues such as creating a budget, how to save, financial risks and how to spend available cash resources over time.
In the world we live in today, personal finance and planning is no longer a luxury of the wealthy, rather it has become a necessary part of life. Preparing for the future is essential and there is no better time to start than today.
For many people, thinking about personal finance is like speaking a language from Mars to them, and they have no clue where to start. It can be confusing when speaking of terms like balance sheets, balance sheets, and income statements. But that shouldn’t sound alarm bells, since most of us get caught up in personal finance decisions without even knowing it. For example, when making decisions about where to live, which car to buy, and where to take your children to school among others. These decisions have a financing factor involved in them somewhere.
Personal finance advisors have appeared in the recent past, who come to the aid of people who need training or financial advice for a fee. It’s especially useful for those of us who don’t have a strong financial background and need help.
Whether you choose to do it yourself or get help from a personal finance advisor, there are some common basic things that one needs to consider. The order of these may vary from person to person or counselor to counselor.
First of all, one needs to consider their current financial situation. This is an honest look at what you owe and own. You then proceed to define your short-term and long-term financial goals. You might think in lines of what kind of lifestyle you want in the future. Finally, and most important, is to come up with a strategy or roadmap that will help you achieve and follow through on the set financial goals. This could include saving and investing part of your income, for example.
Another thing one has to consider is the tax component depending on the country you live in. Tax can be a big expense that most people never think about, and so they end up missing out on opportunities that they have to cut back. Most tax systems have some incentive or relief given to taxpayers to encourage them to save or invest in certain things. For example, payments for retirement, life insurance, or specific purchases such as buying a home through a mortgage. It would be wise to investigate the potential savings available to you from a tax perspective.
No matter how you look at personal finance, it is imperative that each and every one of us take charge of our own finances by avoiding the common pitfalls that many have had to put up with, because they haven’t taken the time to consciously look at their personal finance. Will you leave your money to fate or will you take charge of your financial destiny today? it’s your choice.
