I graduated from the field of finance around 12 years ago. A graduation degree in any field does not necessarily mean that you are expert and a reliable person in that area. Same is the case with me. Although I completed my graduation with accounting as the specialization yet I did not understand the subject at all. I was only looking forward to the degree certificate and there was no seriousness nor sincerity to truly grasp the subjects and its meaning. While some of my friends became certified financial advisers and a few managed to become chartered accountants, I had diverted my attention to creative fields and never managed to work as an accountant in any of the job profile. I knew I would become a terrible accountant if I were recruited. Financial subjects were not meant for me.
Like many, I chose to spend my money in a random manner to buy costly cell phones, eating in malls and restaurants or gifting it to my parents to buy anything they wished for. After all it was my money and it was my decision to decide, where the money should go. For somebody who has always wished for money to be spent ASAP will only spend the money once he gets it. My father who was then a retired bank officer was observing my behavior and he kept asking me to start saving for my retirement. I was 21 back then and the words to “start saving for retirement” seemed like my father had retired at the right time before he could say anything insane like that. I thought I am just 21 and I have just started earning. Let me enjoy my life. I never saved a single dime till I was 26. Whatever little I had saved accidentally, was diverted to funding my Management degree which I did not complete it either.
If you are somebody who is earning and in his prime 20’s or even 30’s then the best advice which I can give you is this:
Income-Savings=Expenditure
For most of us it is the below formula
Income-Expenditure=Savings
I will address more on this topic of how much to save and how to multiply your money in the upcoming posts but at the moment if you are looking forward to building a sound financial health for your life then I would ask you to read more on this subject. If you are looking for a good book on this topic then you can go through the “The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey“. The book lays a good foundation for building an understanding for savings, getting out of debt and creating wealth. It has already sold a million copies worldwide and it is also easily available. Alternately you should try to read newspapers which cover such topics i.e. Financial Times or Economic Times Wealth. Initially you may not understand a word but just browsing the headlines and choosing topics which may interest you is also a good start.
Remember, its your money and you are the sole decision maker as to where it should go. You make the ultimate choice. The sooner you begin, the earlier you will get healthy. 30 years from today if you were to look back at your life then would you feel happy that you made the difficult choice and did well financially or would you repent for sleeping over an important topic to be addressed and still working for money instead of your money working for you at the age of 60 while you are resting along a beautiful beach and watching the sunset with cup of hot coffee and smiling 😀
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