There is no better time than the present to be your own financial planner. Today’s DIY culture encourages everyone to just “do it yourself”. There are so many resources available to you online, why not try your hand at teaching yourself about financial planning so you can manage your own financial future?
A volatile stock market can be a scary thing. It seems so uncontrollable and swings up and down with news reports, new inventions and trends, unemployment numbers, politician’s statements, it seems almost anything really can affect the market.
We are all looking for an awesome life hack, some way that we can improve our life with simple changes. Maybe you even started brushing your teeth in the shower to save time and be more proactive. But life hacks are not all about productivity. Check out these 15 financial planning tips to hack your finances.
Planning the right time for your retirement depends on a lot of factors: how long do you want to continue to work, how much money do you have saved, what is your health like, and what is the economy doing? Some of these are within your control and you can change if, for example, market conditions are less than ideal you might choose to continue to work for a few more years until your nest egg recovers.
It is all too easy to focus on things you cannot control when it comes to money: the stock market, a looming recession, trade policy, the value of the dollar, inflation, the rate of return of your 401k account, how your neighbors spend and whether you need to keep up with their Christmas decor… the list can go on and on, resulting in depression and ennui. Wait a minute though. Personal finance is not something that happens to you, it is inherently something that you control. What happens in the world outside your wallet does not need to weigh heavily on you. Sure, it can impact the value of your 401k, but not your habits and actions. No one can control the markets, but we all can take control of our own personal market and money.
