November is the best time to make resolutions, not January. If you keep at it regularly, it will become a habit that you cannot shake off by January. So what better day to start than Diwali?! Here are five important money steps that you can consider working on from today and perfect by Jan 2019.
1 Work towards a second source of income
No, I am not referring to passive income. No such thing. Start today to list your skills and talents that people will find useful and pay for and think about how it can be turned into an active source of income in the coming years. If you work on this bit by bit and give yourself enough time, it will grow to a sizeable income in the next 5-10 years (no shortcuts). Your initial target should be to generate enough secondary income to match your monthy expenses. I would suggest that you look into yourself for ideas and not at what others do. In any case, if you are interested, here are some real-life examples: How to Make More Money In India: Forty real examples
As with investing most people seem to be impatient about getting that second income. What is the hurry? This is your long-term fall-back plan. Take your time, think about it, nurture the idea and start slow.
2 Start contributing 5-10% of your monthly income in an emergency fund
From 2019 onwards, we should not touch our investments for our emergencies and if possible not disturb the monthly investments that we make too. To work towards this, start contributing 5-10% of your monthly income into an SB account or liquid fund or a flexi-deposit account. Anything will work. Let us not be immature and ask “which is the best way?”!
3 Understand the importance of inflation for your long-term financial goals and find out how much you need to invest for them
All you need to do is to download the Freefincal Robo Advisory Software Template and punch in your numbers. You can create a start-to-finish financial plan and use my handpicked mutual Funds September 2018 (PlumbLine) if necessary. The amount that you need to invest may look too much now, but don’t worry. As long as you manage the next step, you should be doing ‘okay’.
4 Try to increase your monthly investment by 5-10% in 2019 and every year hence
Even if you cannot manage the total investment mentioned in the robo template, try to increase your current investments by 5-10% in 2019 and every year henceforth. It is tough, but no point setting yourself easy goals. Remember wealth is built from the capital you put in, how soon you do so and patience.
5 Think real hard before taking on any kind of debt
Debt is essential to the fabric of our existence and our economy today. However, it comes with a cost. The more EMI you pay and the longer you pay it for, the less you will be able to fund your future goals. So the best time to get take on debt (for a home or a car) is when your monthly investments will not get disrupted. So, understand the amount you need to invest for your long-term goals, start investing and then take on debt. You will have a much better perspective that way.
One more: Go on an information diet and focus on experiences
How well you manage your money depends upon how clear you are about your objective. The less you know about recent developments, the less you know about what experts have to about future market movements, the better you can manage your money. See: The Information Diet: How Less Information Can Make us More Informed
Therefore, unsubscribe from my blog, get out of Asan Ideas for Wealth (many smart ones have), do not follow any “finance guy” on social media or Whatsapp groups. Focus on experiences that will make you happy. Find a way to be creative and useful to others every single day. That would be the best use of our most precious resource – time
Wish you all a happy and safe Diwali. Even if you finished your Deepavali yesterday, today is a good time to work on this. Trust me, I did and it changed my life. Many readers have are in much better control of their time, life and finances.
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About the Author
M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. since Aug 2006. Connect with him via Twitter or Linkedin Pattabiraman has co-authored two print-books, You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) and Gamechanger and seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation to promote unbiased, commission-free investment advice. He conducts free money management sessions for corporates and associations based on money management. Previous engagements include World Bank, RBI, BHEL, Asian Paints, Cognizant, Madras Atomic Power Station, Honeywell, Tamil Nadu Investors Association, IIST Alumni Association. For speaking engagements, write to pattu [at] freefincal [dot] comAbout freefincal & its content policy Freefincal is a News Media Organization dedicated to providing original analysis, reports, reviews and insights on developments in mutual funds, stocks, investing, retirement and personal finance. We do so without conflict of interest and bias. Follow us on Google News. Freefincal serves more than one million readers a year (2.5 million page views) with articles based only on factual information and detailed analysis by its authors. All statements made will be verified from credible and knowledgeable sources before publication. Freefincal does not publish any paid articles, promotions, PR, satire or opinions without data. All opinions presented will only be inferences backed by verifiable, reproducible evidence/data. Contact information: letters {at} freefincal {dot} com (sponsored posts or paid collaborations will not be entertained)
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