Chances are, you hear left and right that you need to save up. Save up for your retirement, save up for a down payment on a house, save just because you should save. And of course for an emergency fund. Even if you’re trying to build a more successful business you’ll still hear on and on about needing an emergency fund. One for your personal life, and one for your business.
Continue reading “7 Reasons Why You May Need an Emergency Fund”Saving should be part of every financial strategy. You can’t plan budget management without making sure you can put money aside. Indeed, your savings could keep your budget afloat in case of an emergency, whether it’s an unexpected bill or prolonged unemployment. There’s a reason it’s called savings. It’s because your savings can save you.
The typical 50/30/20 rule suggests that the household should spend 50% of the net income on essentials, 30% on non-essential purchases, and put the remaining 20% into the savings pot. Ideally, to make the 50/30/20 rule work, you need to monitor cash flow closely. Indeed, the best way to turn 20% of your income into savings is to reduce your essential and non-essential costs. Could you cut down your electricity bills by switching providers, for instance? How much can you save through meal preps that prevent food waste and takeaway expenses? The bottom line, if you’re going to make your savings work harder, you need to make saving money possible in the first place. Unfortunately, successfully grown savings come at a cost. You could pay taxes on your savings. Here are some ways to make savings more affordable.
Look out for options to cut unforeseen taxes
Less than 5% of tax-payers in the UK pay tax on their savings interest. The personal savings allowance (PSA) lets you earn up to £1,000 in interest without worrying about taxes. However, your income tax rate will determine the PSA. High-earners may not benefit from any allowance, which means that savings do cost money. Yet, there are still strategies that can cut down tax expenses. Retirement savings, for instance, as highlighted in a post on Mega Backdoor Roths can be subjected to financial strategies that maximise savings for high-earners. ISAs are also left tax-free for as long as you don’t take money from those accounts.
Invest it in a small business
Sometimes, your savings are going to work better for you if you keep investing them further. Investing in a small business, for instance, can cut down your tax expenses, and ensure that your savings can carry on working for you. When you join a small business as an investor, you ultimately build an investment path for your savings. While there is no guarantee that you’ll receive a return for every pound you invest, the idea is to select companies that are more likely to become successful.
Alternatively, you can consider investing in your own venture. This could be the opportunity to launch your side hustle and grow it.
Reach out to a financial advisor to create a portfolio
An investment portfolio is designed to bring your savings and finances to the next level. Unfortunately, unless you know what you are doing, it can be tricky to create the right portfolio for your budget. Financial advisors tend to recommend low to medium risk investments with the highest returns to their clients who are unfamiliar with risk management strategies. Typically, this would include a combination of safe bonds, real-estate crowdfunding, dividend-paying stocks, annuities, and even peer-to-peer lending.
Savings, and especially savings for high-earners, tend to come with a tax expense. This can make it tricky for individuals to build up an effective savings strategy. However, there are different tips to avoid the tax hassle while making your savings work harder for you. An investment portfolio, for instance, can make sense of your income, dividing it into actively invested savings, and savings kept into designated accounts.
Money is a magical thing to a child. Adults have a lot of it, in their opinion, and the day they get their pocket money is one of the best times of their lives! But as we know, money isn’t always a sunny, fun thing. That’s something we need to make our kids aware of as well.
Kids need to learn about the world they’re growing up in, and whilst they’re young, they’ll absorb more knowledge than ever before. And because of that, it’s important to introduce them to money at a young age, and highlight both the good and bad aspects of it. So, without further ado, here are some of the grey areas the financial world has to it, and what your kids ought to know about them.
How to Know They’re Spending Too Much Money
Kids should know that money doesn’t grow on trees, and when they want to spend some, they won’t be able to spend forever. Of course, the idea of object permanence can be hard to teach to a kid, but it’s definitely possible! Put the coins out in front of them, and slowly take them away using hypothetical purchases – when there’s none left on the table, ask your child what they see.
Having a Debt
As a kid, the idea of debt can be incredibly scary – it’s something they see on the TV, in all the adverts and the drama TV shows, where scary men in suits bust into a house and take all kinds of things away with them. Well, it’s time to make sure they don’t grow up with that notion, and only that notion, about debt in their head.
Teach them how easily debt can be resolved. Teach them that looking for an instant loan might be quick and easy but needs to be thought about at length. Teach them to be careful about who they borrow from, and to always look to family first. Teach them that you can always be relied upon!
The Benefits of Saving Up
Saving can be something weird and alien to a child. A lot of the time, kids are about instant gratification, and if they want something, they want it now! But if you manage to get ideas about saving in early, they’ll be able to stop themselves and think automatically!
They’ll be able to look at the toy in the shop and work out how long it would take for them to earn enough pocket money. They’d feel more secure about making that decision, and they’ll be able to comfort themselves with the idea that they can come back later. All in all, you’ll teach them to be very mature about their money.
There’s a lot of grey areas in the money world, but they don’t have to be unknowable forever. Make sure your kids are aware of the troubles money could give them, even when they’re not sure what they’re running into – it’s important for the future.
Knowing what to do when you experience an emergency is crucial – if you’re not sure what to do, it can be difficult to find out in the moment because you feel stressed and like your brain isn’t working properly. Below, you’ll find a few common family emergencies and how to navigate them. Take a look.
Your Child is Sick
When your child is sick, getting time off work last minute can be a nightmare. However, your child comes first. Make sure you stress to your boss that you’re disappointed and you know it’s not ideal, but also present them with solutions. Tell them how you can rectify this at a later date and how you’ll make yourself available in the future.
It’s Your Child’s Birthday/Another Special Occasion and You’re Going To Miss It
Your child’s birthday is so important when they’re young, and things like plays and concerts can be huge for them. If you’re going to miss something like this, it’s normal to feel guilty. However, this is your opportunity to become a real role model for your child. See if you can find ways to be involved while you work, or whatever it is you have to do. Maybe you could facetime your child on your lunch break, or message them throughout the day to encourage them. This will still mean a lot to them.
Your Car Breaks Down
A car break down can come suddenly and without warning, and this can be a nightmare if you have somewhere important to be. Quick Car Credit could offer you car finance for a new car if you know your old one is done for, but you should also know what to do straight away to rectify the situation. Who do you call? How will you get to where you’re going? Make sure you have your own break down plan ready.
Needing Time Off Work
A family emergency can mean needing some time off work, but how long can you have off? There is no limit really, and it’ll depend on your workplace. Some reasons you might take time off include:
The reasons above mostly relate to dependents, which means people who are dependent on you. This might mean your kids, or even a parent. Anybody who depends on you. However, most workplaces will also allow time off for close family member emergencies.
It’s normal to worry about an employer disciplining or dismissing you, but they can not treat you badly for needing to take time off. It can’t be counted as a sickness or unauthorised absence. If you feel you are being treated unfairly, citizen’s advice will be able to help you. Providing you are honest and do your best to keep your employer in the loop, you should be treated fairly. Leave your thoughts below – thanks for reading.
Having some money saved up is undoubtedly the key to better financial security, and for many people, saving up is essential for making big purchases such as a new house, new car, or a dream vacation. Whether you’re saving up for something specific or simply want the added security of knowing that you have some cash stashed away for emergencies, saving money regularly is an excellent habit to develop.
However, putting money aside is not always the easiest, especially if you are struggling with high living costs. Thankfully, there are several smart things that you can do to help your savings grow faster. We’ve rounded up some top tips for faster and more effective saving.
If you’re looking for a new account in which to put your hard-earned savings, then it’s a good idea to choose an option with the highest amount of interest available. As you pay money into your savings account, you’ll also be able to earn money on it. And, the longer that the money is in there, the more you’ll be able to earn. A higher interest rate means better earnings for you.
Some accounts, such as stocks and bonds accounts, will require you to lock the money away for a certain period of time, during which you’ll be unable to access it. However, you will be rewarded with a higher interest rate when your account reaches maturity. Follow the link for more information on choosing the best savings account.
One great way to make some extra cash to put into your savings account is to go through your old belongings and see what you can sell. Chances are, you have items in your home that you no longer have any use for, such as old clothes and shoes, DVDs, gadgets, video games, books, and even essential household items. If you’ve upgraded something such as your television or smartphone, then don’t just simply throw the old one away – you can earn some cash back for it on sites such as eBay or Craigslist that can then be put into your savings account.
If you’d like to be able to put more money away into your savings account each month, then the first place to start is by cutting down as many monthly expenses as you can and putting the extra money that you save away instead. There are many different ways in which you can ensure that you are spending less each month.
For example, you can actually save thousands of dollars per year by switching to taking a packed lunch to work, or preparing your own coffee instead of going to Starbucks. Check out comparison sites to see if switching could drive down your utility bills, and call up your cell phone network provider to ask about moving on to a cheaper plan if you feel that you could manage just as well with fewer minutes or data.
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