I'm 30 years old now!
Develop good financial habits, especially focusing on a disciplined approach to saving regularly. This includes maximizing your participation in your company's retirement plan. If you work on establishing good habits now, these patterns will stay with your for the rest of your life.
Rule of Thumb: If you can save 15% of your gross annual income, which includes contributions to your 401(k) or 403(b) plan, you'll be in good financial shape by the time you retire. If you have children, you'll need to save even more to provide for their college tuition costs.
investing money
Some financial professionals use strict rules to manage money for people over age 50. Those rules are often wrong, and, even when valid, they certainly don't apply to everyone. Far more important the so-called rules are guidelines with built-in flexibility. Don't make the mistake of depositing interest payments, dividends and distributions into your checking account. This is money to invest, not spend! You may need the money later on. Besides, if you keep he money invested, compounding will work in your favor.
Budgeting
It takes a bit of planning and some extra bookkeeping to make sure that money is there when a big bill -such as property taxes - comes in. In writing your budget, you provide the items by creating an artificial monthly amount. That's fine, but that money can give a false sense of well-being in the budget as it accumulates. Also, there's a strong temptation to fudge on those accounts if it isn't quickly obvious that you're running behind. On the other hand, the funds may build up to an amount that really should be working for you by earning interest. Finally, there is a question of timing: in the first year, you need to make sure that you've built up money fast enough to meet the bills that arrive early in the year.
If you live in a temperature zone, you might want to consider some low-tech and low-price ways to cool your house before buying an energy hungry air conditioner:
- Start by considering your windows. Pull the shades on the southern side of the house to reduce heat gain. Open windows on upper floors to allow rising heat a place to escape.
- Make sure your attic is properly ventilated with louvers to permit the exit of the air up there.
- Use window fans to exhaust hot air and bring in cooler air. Windows on the south side of the house should blow out; windows on the north side should bring in air.
Buying
Here is what you ask yourself before you buy anything that cost more than $20:
- Do I really need it?
- If the answer is yes, can I afford to pay for it with cash?
- If I can, do I already own something that would serve just as well? (This question alone saves you plenty of money.)
- If I don't have anything that will do the job, do I know for a fact that I have found the best value? Have I really checked around enough to know?
Philhealth Office, Philippines
Always scrambling for cash during medical emergencies? Here's what a health card can do for you - and your family. Health care is one of the priorities of Filipino families. Its high cost, however, tends to drain the savings of most families, and dampen their hopes of providing ailing relatives with the best possible treatment. When emergencies arise, a healthy card becomes your family's best ally.
Shopping
- Get family members to agree not to buy each other presents. Instead, exchange items you own that your relations have long admired.
- Take a hard look at your current credit card bills before going shopping. There's nothing like a debt reminder to bring a spending spree down to earth. Try writing the balances on tiny Post-Its and sticking them on your credit cards.
- Make a list and check it twice. Set a budget. To avoid going overboard, shop early in the season. You're more likely to find what you can afford.
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