How to avoid being in a personal financial crisis

Everyone imagines living a better life that is free from all the clutches that forbid us to achieve our dreams. But the difference lies in turning that dream into reality. This can only happen if you gain expertise in solving financial riddles. Be it about taking out a loan to start a business or thinking about buying health insurance cover for the future, we are all financially obliged to make crucial decisions.

So, why not begin by setting financial goals to improve the quality of your life? Before you prepare a big financial budget, it’s important to go through a list of common mistakes that people make while planning their finances. Learning through their experience can be of huge benefit.

10 common mistakes found in financial planning

1. Unsuccessful planning

Many people lead a carefree life without giving a damn about planning. They are too casual about setting goals and don’t think about whether their limited financial resources will fetch them anything in the future or provide financial stability. To conclude, without an imperative financial plan and budgeting, you will have a difficult time knowing what is happening and how to solve the financial problems.

2. Ignorance is not bliss

Generally, people have a notion that financial planning is all about investing. It should be clear that investment is just a part of the overall planning program that you must achieve to meet your long-term goals.

In order to avoid making monetary mistakes, focus on preparing day-to-day budgeting, taking advantage of good insurance cover, and smart tax decisions to avoid getting into hassles.

3. Not risking enough to improve financial conditions

Without taking risks, your financial condition won’t reach that high. Although the financial world is driven by fluctuating market conditions, the greatest risk is perhaps the failure to act. If you are ready to invest your money, certain risks must be planned. These risks include market risk, economic risk, specific risk, inflation risk, and interest rate risk.

Inflation can be an issue and it is known to impact the financial lives of many. In the recent past, the inflation rate was running at double-digit rates. It can happen that in the near future, the inflation rate may soar again and can influence your financial decisions.

Changes in government policies and tax laws come under the category of market risk. These changes are unpredictable and are known to cause risk.
The automotive industry is a good example of an industry that doesn’t change quickly in response to the changing economic conditions.

If there’s an unfortunate event like the death of a company’s president or a key individual, then it comes under the category of specific risk. Changes in government regulations and quickly adaptable technology are also factors included in the specific risk.

If you want to avoid inviting unnecessary risk, then build a proper portfolio to reduce exposure to these risks.

4. Cut down on common retirement mistakes

Once you hit retirement age, you get into the habit of overspending out of sheer joy or for the comfort of it. From traveling to far off land to decorating the house, you soon realize that you have become dead broke to even purchase medicines. Therefore, it’s better to follow certain rules that can be of great benefit to your retirement age.

Prepare a budget based on long-term planning and stick to it. Try including the much-anticipated travel and other retirement expenses in your budget. Keep a good observation of your prepared budget. Ask yourself questions like are you eating out more or less? Look for ways to minimize your expenses. More importantly, save money for what’s necessary like future medical treatment or an unpredictable expense.

5. Not focusing on saving when you are young

During the initial years of your professional life, your thoughts must be focussed on savings. The rate of savings during that time must be more than the rate of returns.

Save as much as you can during your initial years and once an effective investment plan is made, you can save more consistently. If you start early, then you will get more time to compound money to double or triple times.

Control your spending habits not just by restricting daily expenditures but also take into consideration the money paid towards taxes. If you are a part of the higher income category, then tax savings should be your priority.

6. Unable to protect the assets

The process of risk management deals with the protection of assets. You wish to protect the gains as well as your income. It is vital to have a good amount of life and health insurance, home and car insurance, business coverage, and an umbrella policy to cover up for losses.

Most importantly, keep an emergency fund ready so that you don’t fall into debt during an emergency financial situation.

7. Not thinking about its effect on fees/taxes

People often carry this thought that saving money is only required to fulfill their financial duties. But that’s not true. You also have to upgrade your knowledge about the fees/taxes.

Do not forget to note how much of the investment is taken for fees, commissions, and other costs before and after you plan to invest. Another important aspect to consider, before investing, is its effect on the taxes. As an investor, you should work on the total impact of taxes on your investment strategy and consider tax-free alternatives.

8. Assuming that financial catastrophe won’t strike

Even after continuous stories circulating in the world of news and web about negative financial incidence, families haven’t learned from the stories. They often carry this assumption that bad things won’t happen to them.

Therefore, they become too callous about preparing themselves financially for any event or situation where they are tested. For example, having a lack of emergency funds or emergency cash funds at a time of job loss, or not carrying disability or long-term care insurance.

9. Underestimating the value of time

In a fast-moving world, most people simply want to get rich quickly. Con artists hunt for such people who invest in stock tips and a quick buck. It has been observed by many experts that people tend to quickly lose more money in the stock market than they think of making bucks.

One should plan to invest for the long term. In the long term, it means investing for three years or longer. It might happen that you select a new investment plan and you may be scammed; therefore, it’s safer to talk to an advisor before taking such a step.

10. Doing it your way

One of the common financial planning mistakes that people make is when they get down to preparing the financial plan all by themselves. The financial world is diverse and so are its branches, from tax-saving methods to paperwork/accounts work. The hassles are reduced by hiring a good financial advisor. He shall be the best judge to sort out your financial mistakes and outweigh the associated costs. A trained planner, who briefly studies your financial report, can give impartial, technical, and above all, motivate you to put your financial life in order.

There are several factors taken into account to achieve the desired goals. Smart financial planning steps can get you closer to your goals. So, before you plan out something, make sure you have gone through the common mistakes which people make during financial planning.

By bestdebtconsolidation_admin on December 27, 2020

Valentina Wilson is a writer and blogger who specializes in personal finance and positive change and associated with BestDebtConsolidation. She has a master’s degree in financial journalism and seven years of experience in personal banking and believes that small behavioral changes are the key to achieving financial freedom.

Follow her on Linkedin: valentinailson