Money management is only for the rich? 6 points of financial management knowledge that ordinary people should know to realize your financial dreams

Financial management is not exclusive to the rich, and ordinary people should also understand financial management. Is financial management really hard to learn? The answer is no, so here are some financial knowledge that ordinary people like you and me can understand.

Everyone desires to have more wealth. Wealth is very important. Everyone knows that, but when it comes to financial management, many people start to feel confused. Because many people think that financial management is complicated. There are many wealth management products, including stocks and bonds, funds, wealth management products, paper gold, foreign exchange, P2P...etc. These investment types seem complicated. Therefore, many people prefer to store their money in the bank because they think financial management is too complex.

But in fact financial management is neither difficult nor complicated, and ordinary people can understand it. For financial management, ordinary people only need to understand from two aspects, one is how to make a financial plan, and the other is how to invest.

In real life, many people misunderstand the concept of financial management. They think that financial management is investment. In fact, the starting point of financial management is not to invest, but to recognize what you are pursuing. You can understand from the following three aspects: First, why is money important? Second, what is your wealth goal? Third, what is your current debt?

01 Why is money important?

Money is needed everywhere in life, so money is very important. If you have enough wealth, you will become more free. Think about it now. If your wealth is enough for you to live freely, you don't have to work hard every day, what do you want to do most? travel? read? fitness? Take a blank sheet of paper and write down why you think money is important. You will find the most important things in your mind so that you will not be disturbed by other trivial matters. After you realize why money is important, you will move on to the second stage to set your financial goals. The future is always full of variables, so you only need to set a general goal.

02 Your wealth goal

Every country has a five-year plan and a ten-year plan, and each individuals should have too. They should have their own short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans. Just like when you plan a trip, you must know which attraction you want to go to. How long do you plan to spend on buying your favorite car, or changing to a new house, and how long will it take you to achieve financial freedom? Then calculate how much wealth you need to achieve these goals, how much money you need to become rich and free in your city, and write them on a piece of paper.

03 How much debt do you have?

Next is the third step: write down how much debt you have. Many people don't want to list their debts, because they feel embarrassed, and don't want to think about the mobile phones they bought in installments, the credit cards they owed, and the 30-year mortgage they took on. Learn to face it from now on, because only when you have a clear understanding of your financial situation can you better achieve your financial goals.

Here is a simple method. You take a piece of paper and draw a vertical line in the middle of the paper. List your assets on the left, such as deposits, investments, etc. List your debts, credit card debts, mortgages, car loans, etc on the right. The total assets on the left minus the total liabilities on the right is your total. Isn't it simple? Okay, after finishing the above content, let's take one more step and look at savings and spending..

04 Where does the money come from?

When you don't have additional income, saving money is the best way. If you want to save money, you must learn how to save money. There are always many places in your life where you can spend money. For example, you must pay your mortgage on time, change your phone frequently, and eat out at a nearby gourmet restaurant. So how can we save money in this area? The answer is simple, that is, continue to write a list of expenditures. After writing the list for a while, you will find that there are some things you don't need to buy. This will help you develop the habit of spending money on important things, while reducing your spending on unnecessary things. The amount of savings will increase, and deposits will naturally increase.

Save money early, no matter if you are in your twenties or thirties, and no matter what spending habits you have in the past, now you try to act immediately and start your savings plan. Don't wait until you had entered society for many years without any savings. Not to mention that you will need money during an emergency.

05 How to invest

The next step is to know how to invest. The entire investment activity probably contains three items. The first is to figure out whether you want to buy life insurance; second, you have to give priority to debt repayment; third, to understand the difference between investment and speculation.

When it comes to insurance, many people find it hard to face it, but as a rational investor, they must face problems. If your family depends on you financially, then you should have insurance.

Then, priority is given to paying off debts owed. Why did I say that? Because repayment of debt is also an investment, your debt requires interest. If your investment income is not as high as the interest on your debt, it is wise to repay the debt rationally. In addition, there are uncertainties in investment, so the best investment is to give priority to debt repayment.

06 A clear distinction between investment and speculation

There are millions of investors, and I don’t know how many have made money. But when it comes to financial management, many people still consider which stocks to recommend. Which industry is better these days? Many investors will hear some gossip from relatives, friends, colleagues, relatives of colleagues, etc. , Saying that a stock will go up several times, so they put all their money, even money borrowed from friends, into that stock. What happened in the end? I have not heard of how many people actually make a lot of money.

Why are many investors still unable to make money in a bull market? What is the problem? Why do investors still lose money when the market rises? The reason is that they confuse investment with speculation, and a little personal understanding of individual stocks is far from providing income protection.

We still need to know how to diversify investment risks. The classic philosophy of financial management is not to put all the eggs in one basket, in case there is a hole in the basket, all the eggs are gone.

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The eight golden periods of financial management in life, have you missed them?

The eight golden periods of financial management in life, have you missed them?

In this new era of rapid economic development, everyone will not be afraid to talk about money. In the past, talking about money hurt feelings, but now you need to have money to talk about feelings? Therefore, everyone wants to make more money. There are definitely not a few people who are desperate to make money, and there are very few who are willing to manage money. However, when you want to manage your finances, you find that you have missed the best time. Okay, today, let us talk about the ten major financial opportunities in life.

01

The first is the budding period. It is the period before our secondary school. During this time, our financial resources are coming from our family members or relatives. This money is basically negligible, and it won't be of much use even if it is saved. So the suggestion is that you invest in your hobbies, what you like to do, and what you like to invest in. To put it bluntly, just do what you want.

02

The second is the ignorance period that is, after the secondary school period and entered the college period. For this period of time, we are actually ignorant of financial semi-liberalization. Part of the source of income is still obtained from home, or from a part-time job outside. The financial resources during this period can do something, and here I am here to suggest that you make a life plan for yourself, and then use the money to find a training class that you like and be interested in, so as to enrich yourself so that you can have a good skill when you enter and leave the society.

03

The third is the shell-breaking period. At this time you have entered the society, bid farewell to the school days, become a member of society, and also a member of the workplace. You have survived the low-paid internship period and passed the probation to finally become a full-time employee. However, there is still not much money. At this stage, my advice to you is to learn how to plan your financial structure, you must develop a good financial management habit, and persevere, don't be a Moonlight clan. When you enter the workplace, you are easily influenced by the outside world, and you go back to blindly pursuing ridiculous things. It is inevitable that a person wandering outside will encounter tricky things and the family cannot help in time, so developing a good financial management habit can benefit you throughout your life.

04

The fourth is the development period, which refers to the period from the beginning of work to marriage. During this time, we have gained a certain amount of savings and self-confidence. Suggestion is to choose investment and financial management wisely.

Insurance: accident insurance, medical insurance, etc.

Investment categories: P2P financial management platforms, stocks, funds, etc.

05

The fifth is the maturity period, which is the period during which you are married. At this time, you will consider buying a house, buying a car, starting a family, and many other things that will generate economic consumption. During this period, suggestion is to leverage on the loan amount, which is reasonable. The amount of loan is also a financial management tool. It is better to save some spare money to invest in financial management than to save money to buy a house in full, so that money can make money.

06

The sixth is the stable period. At this time, the family is almost stable. At this time, your family has a new member, a child, and the cost of raising a baby is not small. At this time, we recommend  that you avoid the stock market. For a high-risk investment, you can choose less risky financial management methods to ensure that children can grow up healthily without the pressure of family economic problems.

07

The seventh is the stressful period. During this period, it can be said that there are old and young children, the tuition and living expenses of children, the living expenses of the elderly, medical expenses and so on! During this period, suggestion is to choose a stable financial management method..

08

The eighth is the relief period. At this time, the child no longer needs you to raise, and the money on hand is more generous, just do within your means.

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Thoughts after 30 years old

The fundamental reason why most people can’t save money is not because they spend too much, but because they lack a sense of crisis

01

As life is unpredictable, we are all worried.

I remember the fables of squirrel and crow when I was young. Winter is coming, squirrels have been actively hoarding pine cones looking for food, but crows are lazy to go and find food. When winter really comes, squirrels have food for the whole winter, but the crow has nothing, thus it can’t withstand the cold winter.

In fact, we have long known the importance of preparing in advance, but I don’t think most people think that they will become that miserable crow.

And many people cannot save money not only because they earn less and spend more, these are just behaviors, but the way of thinking is the most important.

Because they can't think of the consequences of not saving money, life has not yet staged this scene for them. Maybe he won't be a crow, but he may be a frog slowly cooking in warm water, bewildered by the comfort of the moment, forgetting the danger that might come.

02

There was a girl on the Internet who shared her own story: Worked overseas for more than ten years, single, is now a glamorous office lady in the workplace, did not buy a house but rented a house for 7,000 per month, flown around the world , live in first-class star-rated hotels. This girl plans to take the initiative to resign and take a two-year break before 2020.

She earns a lot. After all, not many people can afford a monthly rental cost of 7,000, but the girl never expected that after resigning, she would encounter a rare epidemic, and due to her nature of work and not having enough savings, she immediately faced a cruel financial crisis.

Almost all savings have been spent in the past two years. She sold all the jewelry bags and was considering whether to sell the high-end car that was still repaying the loan.  The glorious and glamorous experience in the past is worthless at this moment.

It’s not impossible to start from scratch, but it’s difficult to change from extravagance to frugality. She has to re-set her mentality to set off again.

At the beginning of covid19, we were a little frightened.

But only we ourselves know that the reserve funds we have to save are far from enough in order to fully meet our expenditures. 

Therefore, in life, there must always be a bit of anticipation of the future and a sense of crisis to react to the unforeseen.

03

Young people nowadays are easy to fall into overwhelming consumerism. Of course, it is understandable to spend their own money to live a better life, but it is also terrifying to pay too much attention to the immediate satisfaction of the present and not to make long-term plans for the future.

Moreover, the processing of consumer loans and credit cards makes early consumption very easy. If you overdraw tomorrow's money, will you be able to earn it back in the future? Maybe not.

Before buying anything that is not necessary, you might as well ask yourself a few questions:

1. If there is an emergency, are you able to fork out the money?

2. If you suddenly lose your job and cannot find a suitable job for three or four months, can these things be sold for money? Are there any savings to support this tough period?

3. If you or your family members suddenly become ill, can the treatment cost be covered?

If the three answers are no, then every decision not to consume is to delay gratification.

The sense of crisis is that you have to know what you want in the future, or vice versa, know what you don’t want in the future, so you have to do something now.

When there is no good way, stubbornly saving money is the best way. It feels easiest to spend when you save 300 or 500. A new mobile phone or tablet, and a slightly more expensive luxury bag can empty the bank account, but there is a sense of frustration that it feels too little to be saved or there is no need to save it.

Don't give up at this stage, grit your teeth and stick to it. When the deposit reaches 10,000, many people will start to feel a little bit reluctant to spend. For the Moonlight Clan, it is a sense of accomplishment.

Later, I gradually got used to the feeling of saving money, and I saved up to 20,000 and more. Seeing the base making money.

When it becomes more and more, it becomes easier to save money. Because your mentality has changed, your outlook on material desire has changed, and your outlook on consumption has changed.

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Thoughts after 30 years old

01

Last month, due to the company’s manpower reshuffle, I was transferred to a new department. I will have lunch with my colleagues in the department occasionally. They paid about 5 bucks for lunch every day. What surprised me was that even though they were saving so painstakingly every day, they did not manage to save much at the end of the month. Therefore, after the age of 30, the ability to make money is more important than saving money.

How to improve earning power?

02

Expand sources of income

Nowadays, a single income has been unable to meet our living needs. Even though we are saving money, we need to spend to solve the economic difficulties of the family.

Therefore, to expand the source of income, even if the income is not much. For example, I started blogging.

Reasonably control expenses

We all know that if we don't make conscious savings, no matter how much money we make, we can't save it. If we want to have a better life in the future, we have to start saving now. Controlling your own expenses and avoiding unnecessary expenses is the real thing.

Of course, many times, you may consume unconsciously, so you need to form a habit of spending money. For example, when you first buy something, you can make a shopping list.  When you go shopping, you will find that in addition to it being highly efficient and time-saving, sometimes you may not even want to buy the items on the list. In fact, this is also a way to control your expenses.

Preparing for the future

Only if you have a plan in your life can you lead a calm and perfect life, plan for your future, and leave enough money to secure your future life.

For example, make a house purchase plan. According to this goal, you will find that the motivation to save money will be more motivated than just saving money, and in the process, the earning power will gradually increase, because when one has a goal, one will hope to complete the goal early.

Improve professional ability

The most important thing that affects your ability to make money is professional ability. No matter which profession you are in, you should have professional ability that you can tap on.

Just as chefs must continuously improve their cooking skills, designers must continue to learn the ability to appreciate. Therefore, if you want to improve your earning ability, you need to continuously improve your professional ability.

After the age of 30, you will find yourself getting more and more stressed. If you want to get rid of the pressure, you need to do the above 4 points to speed up the realization of financial freedom and reach the pinnacle of life.