10 Simple Steps To Financial Security Before 30 - part 1 of 2

By Ken Hawkins

Being financially secure enough to enjoy your life in retirement is the last thing on the minds of those under 30. After all, with the stress of all the expensive "firsts" that often come about during this period, like purchasing a car, buying a house and starting a family, it's hard to even think about saving for the future. However, working toward financial security need not be an exercise in self-deprivation, as many people assume. Attaining this goal even has some immediate benefits, as financial insecurity can become a serious source of stress - something 20-somethings have enough of already.

So can you achieve long-term financial security without sacrificing your short-term goals? Read on for 10 tips on how to do just that.

1. Have Fun
Enjoy yourself while you are young - you will have plenty of time to be miserable when you are older. Living a successful, enjoyable and happy life is about achieving a proper balance between time with family and friends and between work and leisure time. Striking a proper balance between your life today and your future is also important. Financially, we can't live as if today was our last day. We have to decide between what we spend today versus what we spend in the future. Finding the correct balance is an important first step toward achieving financial security.

2. Recognize Your Most Important Financial Asset: Yourself
Your skills, knowledge and experience are the biggest asset you have. The value of your future earnings will dwarf any savings or investments you might have for most of your career. Your job and future career is the most important factor in achieving financial independence and security. For those just entering the work force, future career opportunities are as bright as they've ever been. The large number of retiring baby boomers is expected to create labor shortages. There will be room for advancement as companies scramble to fill the positions held by these aging baby boomers. Those who are in a position to take advantage of these opportunities will benefit the most.

Look at yourself as a financial asset. Investing in yourself will pay off in the future. Increase your value through hard work, continual upgrading of skills and knowledge, and making smart career choices. Efforts to improve your career can have a far bigger impact on your financial security than tightening your belt and trying to save more.

3. Become a Planner, Not a Saver
Research has shown that those who plan for the future end up with more wealth than those who do not. Successful people are goal oriented: they set goals and develop a plan to achieve them. For example, if you set a goal to pay off your student loans in two years, you'll have a better chance of achieving this goal than you would if you merely said you wanted to pay off your student loans, but failed to set a timetable.

Become a planner. Set goals and develop an action plan to reach them. Even the process of writing down some goals will help you to achieve them. Being goal oriented and following a plan means taking control of your life. It is an important step toward improving your financial independence and security.

4. Set Short-Term Goals - Long-Term Goals Will Take Care of Themselves
Life holds many uncertainties - and a lot can change between now and 30 years into the future. As such, the prospect of planning far into the future is a daunting task and in many ways, it's often an exercise in futility for young investors.

Rather than setting long-term goals, set a series of small short-term goals. These goals could be a simple as trying to pay off credit card debt or student loans in a matter of months. Maybe your goal is to contribute to your company's pension plan with a set salary reduction contribution each month. Setting short-term goals that will help you to advance in your career is important in helping you get ahead. Remember, these short-term goals should be measurable and precise. You can't win a race if there's no finish line.

As you achieve your short-term goals, set other short-term goals. Maybe you want to buy a house, earn a promotion at work or buy a new car. The constant setting and achieving of short-term goals will ensure that you reach your longer-term goals. If your goal is to be worth a million dollars by age 40, you cannot achieve this without first achieving smaller goals like having $10,000, $50,000 or $500,000.

5. Planning For Retirement: Fuggetaboutit?
Just out of school, retirement planning is the last thing on your mind. So, if you have to for now, just fuggetaboutit. If you follow the other tips, you will not only be more financially secure and prepared in the short term, but you will also be financially prepared for the distant future as well.

However, if you take a few steps now to start saving, like setting up automatic monthly contributions to a retirement plan will work in your favor, which makes reaching your goal much easier.

If you implement this pay yourself first ideal, you won't have to worry about how much you're contributing; the most important thing is to develop the habit of saving. The rest will take care of itself. You can increase your contributions when your income rises or when you've achieved more of your short-term financial goals. (To learn why starting now can save you thousands later, see Understanding The Time Value Of Money, Compound Your Way to Retirement and Delay In Saving Raises Payments Later On.)

Source:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/younginvestors/08/generation-y.asp

WILL YOUR CHILD BE RICH OR POOR? 15 POVERTY HABITS PARENTS TEACH THEIR CHILDREN - part 2 of 2

Tom Corley/ Michael Yardney's Commentary

The fact is the poor are poor because they have too many Poverty Habits and too few Rich Habits.

Poor parents teach their children the Poverty Habits and wealthy parents teach their children the Rich Habits.

We don’t have a wealth gap in this country we have a parent gap.

We don’t have income inequality, we have parent inequality.

PARENTS AND OUR SCHOOLS NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO INSTILL GOOD DAILY SUCCESS HABITS AS FOLLOWS:

·         Limit T.V., social media and cell phone use to no more than one hour a day.

·         Require that children to read one to two educational books a month.

·         Require children to aerobically exercise 20 – 30 minutes a day.

·         Limit junk food to no more than 300 calories a day.

·         Require that children set monthly, annual and 5-year goals.

·         Require working age children to work or volunteer at least ten hours a week.

·         Require that children save at least 25% of their earnings or gifts they receive.

·         Teach children the importance of relationship building by requiring them to call friends, family, teachers, coaches etc. on their birthdays and to send thank you cards for gifts or help they received from anyone.

·         Reassure children that mistakes are good not bad. Children need to understand that the very foundation of success in life is built on learning from our mistakes.

·         Punish children when they lose their tempers so they understand the importance of controlling this very costly emotion.

·         Teach children that seeking financial success in life is good and is a worthwhile goal. Children need to learn what the American Dream is (or living in Australia, the "lucky country") and that it is something to be pursued in life.

·         Children need to learn how to manage money. Open up a checking account or savings account for children and force them to use their savings to buy the things they want. They need to learn that they are not entitled to things like cell phones, computers, fashionable clothes, flat screen T.V.s etc.

·         Require children to participate in at least two non-sports-related extracurricular activities at school or outside of school.

·         Parents and children need to set aside at least an hour a day to talk to one another. Not on Facebook, or on the cell phone, but face to face. The only quality time is quantity time

·         Teach children how to manage their time. They should be required to create daily “to do” lists and these lists need to be monitored by parents.
The goal should be to accomplish at least 70% of their tasks on their daily “to do” list.

WEALTHY PEOPLE DO CERTAIN THINGS EVERY SINGLE DAY THAT SETS THEM APART FROM EVERYONE ELSE IN LIFE

Wealthy people have good daily success habits that they learned from their parents.

These daily habits are the real reason for the wealth gap in our country and the real reason why the rich get richer.

Unless we teach our children good daily success habits, and level the playing field, the rich will continue to get richer and the poor will continue to get poorer.

Source:

http://propertyupdate.com.au/will-child-rich-poor-15-poverty-habits-parents-teach-children/