Biggest mistake people make with their Money
Biggest mistake people make with their Money
“I am too young to start investments”
“I usually have a lot of month remaining after my salary gets over”
“I am barely floating”
“I will invest when I am approaching retirement age”
These are some common statements that you hear when you talk about money matters.
It doesn’t matter whether you are from middle income or higher income group. The problem with money is same across all the income groups. Even affluent and high income category also have ‘these’ issues.
Most of the working professionals have these issues because of their ‘attitude’ towards money.
Not paying attention towards the cash flow
“We don’t earn much. By the month end we do not have any leftover money”
If you are earning and if you have to say that you don’t have money left by month end then there can be 2 possible scenario
- Either your income is too low OR
- Your expenses are too high
If your income is low and you are barely making enough to sail through the month then its a different story. But hey, we are not talking about this category. Here we are talking about the other category – people who are unable to save money because their expenses are way high for them to save and invest.
Here we are talking about those who have decent monthly income but due to their spending habits, they are unable to save and invest anything. This is purely because of their ‘ATTITUDE’ towards money. These people are making a lot of money month on month, but they don’t have any idea where their money is going? Simply because they don’t care and don’t pay attention to it. It is their attitude towards money which we are talking about.
Not paying attention towards Debt
With the advent of modern day banking, credit is cheap and is available easily. Home loan, Auto loan, personal loan, credit card cash advance, home improvement, holiday spending – name any damn thing and you have a credit line available for it. Banks happily distribute credit cards and other loans which makes it easier for individuals to buy anything and everything on credit.
In our grand parent’s / parent’s days, they used to save money to buy anything. These days it’s merely a tap of credit card or a swipe. Instead of saving for things we want, we borrow money and buy them right away.
This attitude towards debt does not allow individuals to come out of monthly payment cycles and they keep buying unnecessary items throughout their life.
Not paying attention towards Savings & Investments
Most of the working people, earning good income can not cope with emergencies. A car break down, a medical emergency, kids education, marriage, sudden job loss and so on. If anything happens, they don’t have emergency funds to tackle the sudden financial crisis. They rush towards credit line from banks or bank on credit cards.
The attitude towards cash flow and the attitude towards debt discussed above has direct effect on attitude towards savings and investments by an individual. If people know where their money is going, and they do not keep accumulating debt, they will have free money which can be used to save and invest thus strengthening their financial standing.
Taking a closer look towards your cash flow and debt will help you to plan and save money for emergencies and kid’s education. Once you start saving and investing with goals in mind, you can tackle emergency situations too through proper planning and an emergency fund.
Bottom-line is we need to be proactive with money instead of being reactive. Take charge, take control of your money and plan where your money should go. If you do not change your attitude towards money, you will never come to know where your money went.
Happy investing !!!
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