Being financially responsible throughout life can lead to less stress and fewer worries. One way to put this into practice is to get thrifty.
You can either sell your used items, or buy used from someone else. If you put in some time, you’ll find that being thrifty is an excellent way to save money.
Recent studies have shown that a large percentage of young adults under 35 are declining enrollment in employer-provided retirement plans. Considering the economy, it’s understandable that many young adults are finding it impossible to focus on things any further off than paying student loan debt, purchasing a home or vehicle, and getting started in their careers.
Many won’t be financially able to leave their parents’ home until well into their twenties. Even if they’re interested, today’s young adults find it hard to sacrifice a portion of their often meager wages for retirement savings. Especially if they’re barely getting by as it is.
Considering this trend in the next generation, some companies that employ mostly younger adults aren’t bothering to offer retirement plan options and are choosing instead to pay higher wages. While this may be saving companies money and allowing Generation Y or Millennial adults to channel their money into immediate debt-payoff or other savings goals, it’s not encouraging the younger generations to think about and plan for the future.
Market research shows that those who are actively saving and investing for their retirement are in the 35-65 age bracket. But, according to many financial experts, this is alarmingly late in the game. The obvious dilemma is that young adults need to start saving for retirement as soon as possible — while not floundering under other financial obligations. It’s a challenge, but it can be done.
Here are four retirement tips that young adults can start implementing now.
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What truly constitutes an emergency? Many of us tend to justify taking money out of our rainy day fund by calling something an emergency when, really, it’s not a true emergency. As you work on building your emergency fund, take a step back and consider how you will use the money you accumulate.
Dr. Stephen Lesavich, the co-author of The Plastic Effect: How Urban Legends Influence the Use and Misuse of Credit Cards, suggests to create spending rules so your emergency fund doesn’t become a sort-of general fund that you raid whenever you feel like it. Here’s how to put spending rules on your emergency fund, that you’ll actually stick to.
Have you ever thought about where your spending habits come from? We all know that some of us have a hard time saving money, while others find it difficult or painful to spend their hard-earned cash.
Some of your money management style comes from your upbringing — the lessons your parents taught (or didn’t teach) you either by example or instruction.
What’s interesting, though, is that children often grow up with very different habits for handling money than their parents or siblings. Why is this? Well, essentially it’s because of the psychology of spending vs. saving.
Get in your car. Now drive 100 miles southwest from your current location. Get on any road; it doesn’t matter which. Where will you end up?
If you don’t have a map, you probably don’t know for sure. You may know the approximate area, but if it wasn’t where you truly needed to go, then your trip was a waste of time.
It’s the same with dreams and goals.
Knowing what you want to achieve makes achievement easier and more predictable. Pursuing your goals without a plan to get there may get you close to where you’d hoped, but maybe not close enough.
What if you went about your finances the same way? Maybe you’ll have enough savings to nudge you through your golden years. Then again, maybe you won’t. Having a map isn’t a guarantee for success, but at least it’ll give you an idea of the route. If you have a route, it’s easy to make adjustments on the way. [ continue reading… ]
Gamification used to rest only on the outskirts of society.
It involved people staying up all hours of the night speaking in foreign tongues, living secret lives of mystical time travel, and using weapons of intelligence to reach their destination.
Dungeons and Dragons was the ultimate game.
Now, gamification is everywhere. Want to shed pounds or get shredded? There’s a game for it. It’s called Fitocracy.
Want to enforce a new habit you’re trying to form? There’s a game for that, too. It’s called Streaks.
Gamification makes our must-dos fun. It grants us the immediate satisfaction we need to successfully change our lives.
Changing a lifetime of bad habits suddenly becomes easier. Thanks to Charles Duhigg and “The Power of Habit,” the world now knows “all” you have to do is tweak and adjust a few key things, and changing bad habits become easy.
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