Key Messages
Achieve Financial Stability: A Guide To Earning More, Making Yourself Secure And Taking Control Of Your Money
In From Here to Financial Happiness, you’ll learn how to achieve financial stability and successfully make your way towards a comfortable life.
With practical advice contained in its 77 chapters, this guide simplifies the process of setting yourself up for financial success.
You’ll learn the best ways to save money and manage debt, as well as key steps for planning a secure retirement.
From understanding the importance of budgeting to exploring the psychology behind impulse purchases, this book-in-sections provides insights on mastering personal finances.
In addition to providing helpful tips on setting yourself up for long-term success, this book also takes into account the nuances of credit cards usage.
It explains why certain decisions might not be as bad as they seem and offers realistic advice on managing different types of debt.
From Here to Financial Happiness is an invaluable tool that can help you shore up your finances and prepare for a secure and comfortable future – without too much stress or effort!
Compounding Interest: Why Saving Early Makes All The Difference And Simple Rules For Financial Health
The road to being financially healthy begins with understanding saving.
By doing this, you can take advantage of a powerful phenomenon known as compounding.
The idea behind compound interest is that the money you put into your savings will grow quickly over time due to the increase in interest every year.
For example, if you start off with $1000 and a 6 percent interest rate, after 30 years you’d end up with almost double your original amount ($5,743).
Apart from taking advantage of compound interest, there are a few simple rules that apply to everyone in regards to improving their finances.
One way of doing this is by looking into an employer’s retirement plan; typically for every dollar you contribute to your retirement plan, your employer will match it until it reaches 6 percent of your salary.
Another would be avoiding carrying debt on your credit card because companies often charge steep interests for unpaid balances (sometimes up to 20%).
Paying off all credit cards as soon as possible is key if you don’t want to literally throw money away.
By understanding these simple rules and taking advantage of compounding, you can put yourself on the path towards financial health.
So start saving and watch those funds grow!
Financial Security Comes From Having An Emergency Fund In Place
If there’s one thing that should always come first when it comes to financial planning, it’s preparing a safety net in case of unemployment.
We all know that life happens, and security in one’s job can never be taken for granted.
Having a safety net is important to make sure you won’t find yourself completely financially helpless if you ever get laid off or fired.
The most reliable form of creating this financial safety net is to set up an emergency fund.
This fund should ideally have three to six months worth of living expenses tucked away so that you are able to pay your basic bills even without steady income from your job.
To make sure the money doesn’t get spent elsewhere, store it in a separate savings account, or invest it in very safe investments.
Creating an emergency fund isn’t as hard as you may think.
You just need to determine how much money you need according to your monthly living costs; open up a high-yield savings account; and set up your checking account so that monthly contributions go automatically into the new savings account until you reach your goal amount – and voilà, you have yourself a safety net!
Additionally, avoiding any unnecessary luxuries like theatre tickets until things goes back to normal also helps build up the emergency fund faster.
It might even be necessary to move into a cheaper apartment depending on the situation at hand.
Countering Our Evolutionary Instincts Is The Key To Financial Responsiblity
Humans are accustomed to making instinctive decisions in their day-to-day lives, as that is how our species has evolved.
But many of these instincts can be detrimental to our finances.
For example, we often overindulge or pursue strenuous activities because our ancestors were hard workers who labored tirelessly to find food and shelter.
In a similar vein, they placed immense value on hard work and effort which has been passed down through generations – leading some people to make financial investments without taking the appropriate steps beforehand.
However, habits with less desirable outcomes don’t have to persist if kept in check.
To gain better control of your finances, it’s important to calculate fixed monthly expenses such as rent, utilities, taxes and savings.
A good rule of thumb for success is setting aside 12% of your pretax income for retirement and allowing the rest to cover leisure activities such as vacations and hobbies.
By following these guidelines and revisiting them regularly, you can keep those primitive tendencies from holding you back from achieving financial happiness.
The Key To Financial Success Is Learning The Habits Of Thrift And Abstinence
Frugality is essential to achieving both better finances and better health.
This book-in-sections shows us that by keeping your expenses low, you are able to prepare for a financially sound future.
It can mean anything from cutting down on internet plans, or even deciding against getting a gas-guzzling car, says the author.
Furthermore, curbing spending on unnecessary items helps reduce expenses as well.
The aim here is to make sure that whatever splurges you do make give you long-term benefits instead of short-term gratification.
It may seem odd at first but frugality does have its perks when it comes to your health too.
Poor spending habits often lead the way to gambling, addictions such as alcohol and smoking – not only these habit damage our financial freedom but also our physical health.
The book also encourages readers to assess how much money goes into indulgences that are unhealthy for them over the course of a year – how much did those burgers, beer or cigarettes set you back? When your realize how much money vanishes in unhealthy cravings alone – it will surely encourage you to break away from these bad habits and put your savings towards something more productive!
The Considerations To Make Before Buying Insurance Policies
Insurance is important, but it isn’t always necessary.
In some cases, you may already have coverage through your employer or you simply don’t need it.
For example, if you are a 40-year old professional with a spouse and children then life insurance is a very sound idea as your family can benefit from a payout in the event of your death.
However, if you’ve hit retirement age and your kids are grown up, paying into a life insurance policy isn’t essential.
The same principle applies to disability insurance; if you’re young and actively working with no disability coverage from your employer, disability insurance could prove invaluable in the event of accident or illness.
But if you’ve near retirement and have saved up enough money in an account then extra disability insurance should be considered unnecessary.
In the end though, each case is unique and so its best to make an assessment yourself before deciding whether or not to buy any form of insurance policy.
Don’t Overspend On Your Career Success Symbol – It’s Easier To Save Money Than You Think
Cars can be huge money drains if you’re not careful.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on average American families dedicate 16% of their budget to transportation – and since most transportation in the US is car-related, that means a lot of money going into driving expenses!
If you’re spending more than 15% of your income on maintaining your car and other related costs, such as gas, insurance, repairs and registration fees then chances are you’re overspending – and with less money to go around for more essential items like savings, it’s time to take action.
Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to regain control over your finances when it comes to having a car.
Firstly, make sure that when it comes time to replace your current vehicle that you do so wisely; buying new cars may seem attractive at first but their value depreciates rapidly during the first couple of years so opting for a slightly older secondhand model can be much better value for money in the long run.
Additionally, stick with the same car for a while: switching up vehicles too frequently will result in sales taxes and new registration fees which can eat away at your budget.
You should also try to look for newer model secondhand cars with fewer than 30,000 miles on them so that you don’t have to deal with any costly repairs anytime soon – plus they tend to have cheaper insurance premiums overall!
By being mindful of these measures when purchasing or maintaining your vehicle will help keep money draining away from more necessary expenses – giving you greater financial freedom and control in the future.
From Credit Card Rewards To Company Stock: The Secrets Of Wealth Building
If you’re looking to increase your wealth, the best thing to do is take a careful approach and wisely spend your cash every day.
Taking advantage of the rewards offered by credit cards, for instance, can help in this regard – as long as you don’t fall into the trap of overspending just for points!
You should also make sure that excess money in your checking account is transferred into a savings account.
Doing so will not only let you earn additional interest on it but will also help reduce the temptation to spend it frivolously.
However, while saving money is a great start, it won’t help you get significantly richer since earned interest on such accounts can often be eaten away due to taxes.
To make more money, one must consider investing in some company stock.
As a stock owner, you would become part-owner of that business and stand to benefit from high returns if everything goes according to plan.
Of course, such investments should ideally only be done with an already-healthy cashflow and/or pension fund.
Otherwise if the company experiences a slump at any point, an investor may end up losing more money than they have initially invested!
Put Retirement Planning First To Ensure A Happier And Longer Life
Planning for your retirement means taking action now and looking towards the future.
It doesn’t matter if you have student debt or want to invest in a property, when it comes to financial planning, you must keep your retirement at the forefront of your plans.
Investing 12 percent (or more) of your monthly earnings into a retirement fund is a great start.
Not only will this provide peace of mind, but it will help ensure that you are financially secure during your retirement years.
It’s also important to remember that, while many people dream of spending their days relaxing in the sun after retirement, this can often become mundane and even lead to depression.
Therefore, using this new found free time to pursue hobbies and activities you love and truly enjoy — like music or chess — should always be part of the plan.
This way when you do retire, you’ll already have plenty of ideas on what to do with your newfound spare time which will make retiring a positive experience.
By preparing for retirement early on, having an emergency fund for unexpected life events and major expenses as well as contemplating enjoyable interests for when the time arrives – from here to financial happiness can definitely be achieved!
Wrap Up
The final summary of From Here to Financial Happiness is this: in order to achieve financial happiness, start by saving your money by reducing your fixed expenses and living frugally.
Automate your monthly payments so that you’re always on top of them and don’t miss anything.
Once you have saved a healthy stash of money, use it wisely – invest in stocks to put it to work for you and make sure that your wealth is enough to sustain you through retirement.
With the right strategy and tactics, financial success can indeed be yours!
