How to Be Rich Later and Live Well Now

I’m thinking that many people share our goal to retire comfortably without taking a vow of poverty now. It’s definitely possible, but sacrifices will have to be made. There’s no free ride, it takes work.

The trick is to decide what you’re willing to cut back on so you can save for the future. That’s for everyone to work out on an individual basis, but there are some universal concepts to follow.

How to Plan for a Wealthy Future

• Attack your credit card debt. This debt is the worst to have, as they typical have high interest rates. Have a plan to eliminate your balance and use your credit card wisely.
• Live like college kids for a couple of more years. I’m not saying eat ramen and spaghetti everyday, but learn to live on a little. It does feel great to get a good paying job compared to your college jobs. Don’t spend your paychecks on getting new furniture and fancier clothes right away though. Instead use your better paying paychecks for family savings and investing first and slowly upgrade your home furnishings.
• Put money into your retirement fund(s). Have it automatically taken out and you’ll never miss it. Ten percent is good, but if you’re limited on funds, at least go for what your employer matches. It’s basically free money. Starting early in your life is to your advantage since you’ll be utilizing compound interest.
• Pay your bills on time and keep an eye on your credit scores. A huge part of your FICO score is determined by your payment history. Don’t be late and check your scores annually. When you two decide to buy a house, the diligence will pay off with lower interest rates and a lower mortgage.
• Automate bills and paychecks. It’s one of the best things to do and will make your life so much easier. Our bills are usually consistent and we have bill payments automated. If the amount is different for a particular month, it just takes less than 5 minutes to change that.
• Have health insurance. It would be a shame to lose all the money you saved because a hospital visit sucked it all up. The reality is if you don’t have any health insurance, you’re charged even more.  I’m not saying health insurance covers all bills, but it reduces it but a huge amount.

Well, that’s about it. It’s not rocket science, but it’s not a walk in the park either. Managing your money is an ongoing process. It’s up to you to decide if you want to build wealth or fight to stay on top of bills.

If you enjoyed this post and want more, please subscribe to my RSS feed!

• Majoring in Credit-Card Debt Many times when it is mentioned how much credit card debt college students carry, the credit card companies' strategy is hardly examined beyond the fact they offer free goodies to get students to sign up. This article looks at how some companies are pursuing unethical tactics to get students......
• CLEP Can Reduce Your Student Loans College can be an expensive investment. With many students graduating with larger student loan balances, finding ways to reduce the cost is valuable to many people. One option for some students is CLEP exams. /caption] What are CLEP exams? These exams test your knowledge in several subjects ranging from......

• TransUnion Reveals National Credit Card Debt on the Rise TransUnion.com, one of the three major credit bureaus, released the results of an analysis study of the trends in credit card lending specifically for the third quarter of 2008, revealing that credit card debt is on the rise. The report is one part of an ongoing series of quarterly consumer......
• Getting Out of Credit Card Debt; You Can Do It! Getting out of credit card debt can seem like an unrealizeable goal. Credit card debt can cause massive stress. Imagine a life without that debt. Can you see it? If you’re like many average families, you may have a hard time getting a clear picture. Many people have been making......