Find out how successful people manage their finances
One of the things that successful people do differently from the rest is their how they manage their money. They tackle their finances with a certain degree of dignity and give it as much importance as the other things in their life. Their attitude towards their finances is one of responsibility. Here are a few of their best habits that make successful people rich:
- Good relationship with money: To have a good relationship with someone the foremost thing is to respect them. Successful people respect their money. They know that hard work goes into getting it and every penny is hard earned. The other important thing for a good relationship is involvement. Successful people are involved with their money, completely. They know what they can or want to do with their money. They handle their money with utmost care and are not reckless in their money matters.
- Savings are important: Successful people have money goals and they want to see it grow. One of the ways of ensuring you always have money is to save. They ensure that they regularly save at least a set amount or percentage of money every month. Having savings is important for crunch situations. Successful people are successful because they have savings to see them through their rough patches.
- Avoid impulse buying: Successful people do not spend money impulsively. They can control their urges and hence, have money when they need to spend on more important things. The famous “marshmallow study” by Dr. Walter Mischel corroborates this fact. It shows that preschoolers who could control their impulse of eating a single marshmallow until an adult returned to the room to get two instead of one marshmallows grew up to be successful adults.
- Stay clear of debts: Successful people live within their means and keep their debts low to none. They avoid using credit cards and spending what they do not have. The only loans they may take are for business purpose which will be spent to make more money. They ensure that their loans are paid on time.
- Differentiate between wants and needs: This is one thing that separates the common man from a successful man. They know the difference between wants and needs. They avoid buying what they simply want. It often happens among people that they walk into a store with a list of things but end up buying more than they had listed. Successful people stick to their needs. Even if they have more money, they do not just spend it.
- Planning their finances: An important aspect of successful people’s finances is that they are well planned. The key areas of planning include:
- Savings: As discussed earlier, successful people have regular savings.
- Insurance: An important part of financial planning, successful people insure their assets and themselves. They spend a set amount of their money on insurance to prevent them from sudden disasters.
- Taxes: Successful people pay their taxes. They either have a separate account where they save their tax money or they pre-pay their taxes or they save the tax amount without touching it. They always take care of their tax liabilities.
- Investment: Apart from savings, the other way to grow one’s finances is to invest.
- Invest in the right place: The right places are those that you have knowledge of. Successful people invest only in places where they have a certain amount of knowledge.
- Get help: Another part of their investment strategy is to get help. They do not always know everything about investment. They could either spend their time and money on learning about investment options or get help from experts. They do the latter as it gives them time to spend on more productive work.
- Retirement: Successful people know that they will not always be as young and energetic. They plan for their retirement. They have a separate retirement fund in which they religiously invest every month. They do not disturb this fund until in absolute dire consequences.
- Estate planning: Property is an important aspect of financial planning. Successful people plan their estate purchase meticulously. Since property values mostly appreciate, buying estate is an intelligent move. They make sure that they buy estate that is likely to appreciate greatly in value but also is within their affordability range.
- Long term focus: All of the above reflects one common trait in financial planning of successful people - long term focus. Successful people avoid short term gratification for long term gains. They have specific long term goals and they tie their daily tasks to those goals. In this way, they never overspend or spend on things which will throw them off balance for their long term goal.
Successful people are always keen to learn more about money and how they can make better use of it for themselves as well as the society. They never overspend but they do give generously. This is because they have covered their bases and they can afford to give away. If you look to take up financial planning as a career, you must enrol in one of the financial courses.
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