When you are in your twenties the life is full of new experiences, adventures, and different experiments. It is also the age of beginning an independent financial life and making important decisions.
While having a lot of opportunities, the young adults also face a lot of risks. Making financial mistakes helps growing but sometimes consequences can be long-lasting and dangerous. It is better to avoid these five common financial missteps that can influence your future success.
1. Long-Term Loans
There are situations when borrowing is a good solution. You can get money for buying a house or a car, going to college or starting your own business. It can really bring some positive impact on your life.
The type of loans can be different. Dealing with monthly payments during years and facing the economy changes makes long-lasting borrowings a huge responsibility. Long-lasting commitments might not be a good idea at a young age. There are a lot of short-term financing options that can give you a decent amount of money for education or purchase without further difficulties. Consider this variant of borrowing as it is less stressful and easier to get.
2. Make Saving Your Habit
When you are a young adult, it seems there is plenty of time and it is too early to worry about retirement. This misconception often becomes the biggest regret.When you start saving at twenty-five and do it regularly, you can be sure that in elder age you will afford traveling and life without financial troubles during retirement.
Missing a few years of saving seems like not a big deal, but in fact, it is quite a significant amount. Even a year makes a sum in your fund much smaller. The most important about saving is doing it regularly.
3. Complex Investments
It is not a secret that investing is unpredictable and even professionals cannot give guarantees. The Wall Street firms often encourage investors to participate in various complex projects, watch the market and be always ready for new investments.
When you do not manage to succeed this way, it is very likely that you will need to pay the firms for the help. It is better to try an opposite approach. Trading less frequently might bring better results and you will certainly lose less. Make a plan that is relevant to the level of risk you can handle and stick to it no matter how the market changes.
4. Expensive Financial Adviser
The help of financial specialist is often needed and helps to make better decisions but you need to be careful with the amount of money you spend on it. Overpaying for the financial help is a common mistake of young adults that does not allow saving enough money for the future.
Before paying for services, decide how much you can afford to pay and what are the limits. Discuss it with a specialist and find out what exactly you will get for this price. Consider paying per hour instead of dealing with commissions and percentage.
5. Avoiding to Review Your Financial Situation
Thinking about finances all the time leads to stress and nervous breakdowns but going with the flow is not the best solution either. It is important to find the balance and check the situation from time to time.
Once a year you may calculate how much you spend, own and earn. If there is no progress or there a lot of debts, it is better to notice it in advance and make some changes. A simple calculation will show your results and you will know what to improve.