“Save for Freedom, Not Retirement”
If you can’t bring yourself to save money for retirement (you say there are too many other things to worry about and I’m not going to retire anyway), think of saving as freeing yourself up instead.
This is the premise of this article from NerdWallet , and it’s a pretty good quintessence of what all of these personal finance articles are ultimately about: arm you with the information you need to live your life the way you want it. In other words, freedom.
“If you save $ 1 now, you are essentially making a present for yourself in the future. You can do whatever you want with it, ”Brian McCann, a certified financial planner, told NerdWallet. “If you’re in your 30s, looking at retirement 35 years later is not very fun. But if you have other aspirations – you want to take a sabbatical, continue passionate work – accumulating savings gives you the opportunity to choose for the future. Not just retirement, but any future. “
Merely saving money won’t solve all of your problems, but as McCann pointed out, it will provide you with options and allow you to deal with the unexpected problems that come your way. Think about yourself in the future: will you always want the job that you have now? What else could you do with your time ( and your life ) if you weren’t living paycheck to paycheck? What can you do now to help the future make their dreams come true? What kind of pressure can make it easier for you to have a few extra dollars in the bank?
Here are some tips on how to do it . All in all, this means assessing your financial health and learning how to budget , invest and make sacrifices. This means paying bills on time and making sure your credit cards work for you.
The race is long and with myself. Think about your goals, what really matters to you, and make a plan to pay yourself to achieve them.