You may have heard the three basic personal finance rules to achieve wealth; earn money, spend less than you earn, and invest. These are very important, however, applying what I am learning in my risk management and other finance courses, it is important to not only do those, but to manage risk as well. How do you do so, through great planning. Look at these 10 basic personal finance tips.
1. Make a will or estate plan. (not done yet)
2. Obtain sufficient insurance. (through my employer)
3. Set up a high yield savings account. (I have an ING Direct account)
4. Track your money. (I use both MS Money and Mint.com) See my Mint.com review.
5. Build an emergency fund. (set up automatic savings through ING Direct)
6. Get out of debt. (I have zero debt)
7. Improve your credit score. (I own high reward credit cards that I pay in full every month; I use them merely to build and maintain excellent credit- they are important to get lower rates for mortgages and insurance etc.)
8. Start investing for retirement. (I have opened a Roth IRA, max out my 403(b) and invest through Sharebuilder)
9. Increase your income. (I work hard at my job and keep my options open)
10. Negotiate to save money. (I am a net saver, not a net consumer; however, I do look for deals like anyone else.)
Pay attention to all of these and carefully and strategically incorporate them into your lifestyle.
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