Learning the basic financial skills may just be what you need to give your net worth a big boost. If you think about it, a lot of self-made millionaires did not start with a lot of money. They had to learn how to make do with what they had. Instead of waiting until they earned enough money, they acted on their dreams. What made them successful is not the amount that they started with. It was their habits and skills that eventually led them to financial success.
If you want to build wealth successfully like these people, you need to make sure that you are equipped with the right financial skills.
Of course, that is another challenge altogether.
According to reports, Americans are not excelling when it comes to financial literacy. More than half cannot explain or define common financial terms like 401(k), inflation, bankruptcy, and interest rates.
Admittedly, these are concepts that are hard to understand. However, that does not mean you should not try to learn what they mean. You still have to learn them eventually if you really want to get your finances to the next level. For now, you can start with the basics. Once you understand what they are, you can try learning something new and more complicated concepts and skills.
5 basic financial skills you must learn
So what are the basic financial skills that you need to learn? Here are 5 of the most important skills that you need to start learning now.
How to create and use a budget plan
If you only have time to learn one plan, this is the one that you need to focus on. A budget plan is the main tool that you can use in financial management. It is the easiest way for you to monitor your income and at the same time, make sure that it only goes to the expenses that you want to finance. At least, if you learn how to use the budget plan properly. Some people create a great plan but fail in following it. You need to learn how to create a realistic budget and ensure that you can follow it. If you cannot follow it, there is a problem somewhere. Maybe your budget plan needs updating or revisions. It has to change as your lifestyle changes too. That is part of the basic financial skills that you need to learn.
How to build a good credit reputation
A good credit reputation is not just reliant on how much money you borrow or how consistent you are in doing it. The truth is, it is more reliant on your ability to pay it back. Our society is built in such a way that encourages the use of credit. That means using credit can open a lot of financial opportunities. If you do not learn how to use credit properly, you will not enjoy these benefits and you might even end up accumulating so much debt that it becomes too much to handle. As you can see, there is no choice. You want to make sure that you can learn how to use credit properly. In order to do that, you have to focus on building a good credit score. Having a good score means you borrow just enough money and you are diligent in paying it back.
How to use credit wisely
We mentioned how credit is necessary for our society. While it is possible to live without it, there are a lot of things that you will enjoy. Besides, eliminating debt is usually not the way to avoid a debt situation. You need to learn how to use it if you really want to have the basic financial skills that will help you be successful in life. Probably the debt that you have to learn how to use is credit card debt. According to reports, almost 4 out of 10 households have credit card debt. Everyone needs to learn how to manage credit and use it wisely. The skill that needs to be learned includes monitoring your debts, being cautious every time you borrow money, and knowing your responsibilities. This is a very important skill to have and it can teach you a lot of lessons about financial management.
How to invest properly
Investing may seem like it should not be a part of the basic financial skills that you need to use. After all, it sounds really complex. Actually, that is not far from the truth. Investing can be a bit difficult to understand. But the thing is, if you want to build a secure financial future, you need to learn how to invest properly. At least, you need to know the basics. The perfect venue to learn about this is actually in school. According to a study, mathematics classes are found to be effective in training students in financial markets, investing, credit management, and avoiding foreclosures. Maybe the government should pay more attention to the personal finance lessons that students are getting in school.
How to manage your household finances
Finally, you need to learn how to manage your household finances. In your budget plan, most of your expenses will probably revolve around what happens in your house. Your rent, food, utilities, groceries – all of these are household expenses. You need to learn how to manage these. Sometimes, there are little expenses being spent at home that might be piling up and costing you a lot of unnecessary money. You need to learn how to budget the expenses that you have in your home to make sure you are being smart about it. Usually, managing your household finances is something that you take after your parents – so you are pretty lucky if you grew up with financially responsible folks. But if not, that is okay. You can learn along as you try to live your own life.
Tasks that will put the financial skills into practice
Knowing the basic financial skills is great but it is not enough. You need to learn how to put all of that into practice. Through these skills, you can even rise from being in a low-income family and be a financial success.
To make sure the financial skills you learned will not go to waste, here are the tasks that you need to work on.
Budgeting
We mentioned how a budget plan is the most important tool that you can use in financial management. Obviously, that means this is one of the tasks that you need to do – all the time. It does not matter if you have a lot of money or a little. All types of financial situations need a budget plan. When you have a little, you need a plan to help you make ends meet. When you have a lot, you need it to ensure that the extra money will be put to good use. Your budgeting efforts will also do more than that. It will give you the information you need to make financial decisions.
Smart spending
Armed with the right budget plan, you should be able to make smarter spending choices. That means giving every expense a purpose. Whenever you spend, ask yourself why you are paying for that expense. Is it to help you reach a goal? Is it for the well-being of your family? These are important considerations before spending a dollar.
Saving for financial goals
Having financial goals is a great way to motivate you to implement the basic financial skills that you learned. These goals will help improve your financial future. The great thing about this is you can set specific and unique goals that you think will help you reach your dreams. Just make sure that the targets you will set are all realistic. That way, you will not feel the frustration of trying to reach something impossible or beyond your financial capabilities.
Investing
Finally, you need to learn about investing. If the concept of investing in stocks and bonds are difficult, then think about other forms of investments. You can invest in your own skills so you have the right to demand a higher pay. You also have the option to invest in a house. But of course, you need to be smart about it. Just because you want to invest, that does not mean you should blindly go into it. Believe it or not, buying a house is not always a good investment – especially if it is being done at the wrong time. Regardless of the investment you choose, make sure you can financially commit to it.
Once you have learned the basic financial skills and implemented them in your life through these tasks, you can expect a certain level of improvement. If you keep at it, you will surely find yourself moving towards a successful and secure financial future.