The financial aspect of your life is one of the most important parts of your life as a whole, and far too often, people neglect this aspect of life until it’s too late to do much about it. By getting an early start on building a solid financial future, you can sidestep a lot of the problems that many young people get themselves into. While it may be boring to think about, a little serious thought early on can save you a lot of pain down the road.
Avoiding FOMO
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, is a plague on many young people’s lives. Yes, there’s someone on a seemingly magical vacation right now, and everyone’s car seems to be shiny, new, and undoubtedly expensive. But then, what no one is going to tell you about those fancy cars, huge houses, and far off vacations is that they are costly. It’s implied, but no one really comes out and says it.
Where people get into trouble is by comparing themselves to these other people. Maybe the other person has been building their business for years, and is finally reaping the rewards. Maybe they got a huge promotion at the job they hustle away at 60 hours a week. Or, perhaps they are deep in debt and just trying to show off. In any case, there’s no sense putting potential feelings of inadequacy on yourself by watching everyone else visually bragging about how much they have spent on this or that. Possibly, one of the best financial decisions that a young person can ever make is to log out of social media and only log back in for the odd birthday or holiday. FOMO can be pricey.
Housing
The choice of where and how to live is one of the most financially powerful ones you’re ever going to have to make. Where you live geographically is important, and you also have a lot of math to do as far as whether you want to climb the property ladder or not. It’s tempting to rent until you can buy a socially acceptable house, and then keep moving up in the world until you live in what people years ago called a McMansion. But then, you never actually have to do these things.
Nowadays, house hacking is perfectly acceptable, and may end up giving you an edge. You may be able to buy a half-decent house with several bedrooms and baths, and rent out a couple of them to people who would rather have a simple, short-term lifestyle. This can help you to offset costs, and live fairly well with only a small number of additional hassles.
Student borrowing
Borrowing money for school can help you to get ahead in a lot of ways. By getting funds at a reasonably low rate, you can help yourself with a profession that will help you earn far more than you would at a less skilled position. Using Elfi can help you determine the right funding to help you get started in higher education.