Welp MagazineCreating financial goals can help you to stay focused and consistent when it comes to saving your money. These goals can be anything from saving for a house deposit, building up your retirement savings or learning how to invest to make more on your money. Building up your savings is essential when you’re young because you never know what’s around the corner and having an emergency fund can save you from financial difficulty. If you’re just beginning to save and you’re faced with an unprecedented expense, online payday loans can help. Below, we’ll look at some of the common financial milestones to work towards before you’re 30.
1. Build up your savings
As we get older, one of the most important milestones that we should be working towards is building up our savings so that we have an emergency fund to fall back on. Once you’ve been to university, studied and travelled, you should start building up capital that you can use to get you to where you want to be. You can do this by simply consulting your budget and deciding to put a sum of money to the side each month, it can be as little or as much as you can afford, and your savings pot will build in no time. You can do this manually by transferring money into your savings when you get paid each month, or you could automate this process with the help of your banking app so that you don’t forget about it, and you can remain consistent. The sooner you can start saving, the better!
2. Save for retirement
It may seem silly to start investing in a retirement fund before you hit 30, but the sooner you start, the faster your retirement fund will build up and you will thank yourself later when you can live comfortably in your old age. This is a prime example of preparing for the future. Luckily, many of us work for employers that offer a retirement fund that pays money into our plan as we do. Check your plan to see how much of your income goes into your pension plan and see if you can increase the payments if it is possible within your budget. Over the time that you’re paying into your retirement fund, your money has the chance to incur interest too, so you taking the time to get to know your plan and invest in your fund is essential to get the most from your money.
3. Manage debt
It is best to start managing your debt as soon as possible. When you’re young, it is possible that the debt you have may not amount to much, but it’s essential that you don’t fall behind on making the payments. When you default on payments, your credit score will plummet, and this is something that you want to avoid as you may not be approved for financial help in the future. Your credit score shows lenders how trustworthy you are when it comes to paying back money that you’ve borrowed on time and in full, so making sure that you make paying off your debt a priority is key. It also puts you in a better position to save – putting money to one side will be more difficult if you are consistently in debt.
4. Choose a credit card
Another great trick for building up your credit score is to apply for a credit card. You may think that this is counterproductive, as you may end up in further debt – however this isn’t the case. Using a credit card sensibly, for small amounts when you’re young can help you to build up your credit score. For example, paying for your food shopping on your credit card and paying it off at the end of the month is a great way of showing future lenders that you can handle your finances. Smaller amounts mean you’re more likely to be able to pay them off easily, but you should make sure that you don’t get carried away. Use your credit card as a tool to help you boost your finances and your credit score into a better position. You can also benefit from credit cards that have bonuses; you just have to find the card that’s right for you.
5. Invest
Investing is becoming more popular among all ages, and it can be a good way to make your money work for you. However, with investments comes varying levels of risks, so if you’re new to investing, you should make sure you do your research and start small so you can get an idea of how it all works. Some apps make investing easy; you can simply round up payments to the nears pound and they will invest the pennies that you’ve saved in a varying portfolio. Of course, you can invest your money however you’d like if you do your research and think you’ve found the perfect way for your money to grow, but you should be aware of the risks too. Investing means your savings can make extra on the funds you have, without having to do anything!
