number1sixerfan
Headphoneus Supremus
1)Well...you want to first start off by having around 3 months worth of your bills in a savings account. That acts as a safety net. You don't want much more than three month's worth because then your money could be working harder for you elsewhere.
2)Next, as mentioned before you need to take advantage of any employer match/programs because usually there is free money involved and no one can beat free.
3)Decide what you want to save for. Short, mid or long term? This wil determine what vehicles you put your money into.
Short Term: You may want to deal with safer investments that yield less return and require little or no taxation when realized/sold. This would be money market accounts, bonds, etc.
Mid Term: Look into mutual funds and stocks. I prefer mutual funds because technically they can be safer because the basket of stocks can balance itself out in the even that a couple stocks do terrible. Stocks can yield a higher return but can also cause more damage if you have to much stock in one company at the wrong time.
Long Term: IRA's, Roth IRA's, Annuities, Permanent Life Insurance, 401k's, and many more. Start these early and do not withdraw from them until 59 and 1/2. The thing many people do wrong with retirement accounts is let them sit idle without utilizing options within them. You don't want your retirement account to be too aggressive as you want to have retirement money when it's all said and done. However, you don't want to essentially lose money due to the rate of inflation by leaving it in some account earning 6% rate of return. Permanent Life Insurance can work extremely well if setup right and if done with the right company. They earn a low return(around 4-8%) but with certain companies it is nearly guaranteed and also double backs as life insurance.
4) I hope this helps. The last thing I'd recommend is finding a financial advisor that is trustworthy. There are a ton of ways to get multiple tax deductions that most people would never know. They also know more than most people. The problem is finding someone you can trust, because nearly all of them work on commission and that can alter their judgement at times.
Also, the overall goal should be to have a diversified portfolio. That way, you do not have one category containing a large portion of your assets should something happen to it. It is easy to diversify, but it can be challenging to find the right amounts that should be put into the different categories.
2)Next, as mentioned before you need to take advantage of any employer match/programs because usually there is free money involved and no one can beat free.
3)Decide what you want to save for. Short, mid or long term? This wil determine what vehicles you put your money into.
Short Term: You may want to deal with safer investments that yield less return and require little or no taxation when realized/sold. This would be money market accounts, bonds, etc.
Mid Term: Look into mutual funds and stocks. I prefer mutual funds because technically they can be safer because the basket of stocks can balance itself out in the even that a couple stocks do terrible. Stocks can yield a higher return but can also cause more damage if you have to much stock in one company at the wrong time.
Long Term: IRA's, Roth IRA's, Annuities, Permanent Life Insurance, 401k's, and many more. Start these early and do not withdraw from them until 59 and 1/2. The thing many people do wrong with retirement accounts is let them sit idle without utilizing options within them. You don't want your retirement account to be too aggressive as you want to have retirement money when it's all said and done. However, you don't want to essentially lose money due to the rate of inflation by leaving it in some account earning 6% rate of return. Permanent Life Insurance can work extremely well if setup right and if done with the right company. They earn a low return(around 4-8%) but with certain companies it is nearly guaranteed and also double backs as life insurance.
4) I hope this helps. The last thing I'd recommend is finding a financial advisor that is trustworthy. There are a ton of ways to get multiple tax deductions that most people would never know. They also know more than most people. The problem is finding someone you can trust, because nearly all of them work on commission and that can alter their judgement at times.
Also, the overall goal should be to have a diversified portfolio. That way, you do not have one category containing a large portion of your assets should something happen to it. It is easy to diversify, but it can be challenging to find the right amounts that should be put into the different categories.
