But fitting personal finance education into your daily schedule might be easier said than done. From working to running errands to doing chores, there’s no time to dive into budgeting basics, let alone convertible preference shares. If you want to improve your personal finance skills, finding ways to learn that don’t interfere with your day-to-day is paramount.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most informative, popular, and best-loved personal finance blogs and podcasts. Among those listed below are general, educational resources you can use to get to grips with the basics, through to informal, relatable podcasts that’ll make you forget you’re learning about something as seemingly dry as personal finance.

Personal Finance Blogs 

The Balance - For personal finance ‘beginners’ who want the basics.

Getting started with personal finance education can be daunting. On most blogs, you’ll struggle to find guides to the basic tenets of money management without having to sift through articles about complex tax loopholes and niche financial services. While The Balance’s blog does include these from time to time, their site is primarily built on highly informative guides to budgeting, banking, mortgages, and career planning.

Not to mention, they offer some invaluable tools, like their budget calculator, and include an overview of the U.S. economy that will put your financial situation in context. With a team of highly educated content creators and fact-checkers, you can be sure that what you read on The Balance is accurate and up-to-date. If you only have time to read one personal finance blog, make it this one.

MoneyUnder30 - For young people who can’t believe Personal Finance 101 wasn’t a high school class.

Money management is complex at the best of times, but it seems almost impossible when you’re racking up student debt, balancing a job with studies, and contending with house prices at an all-time high. Add to this the fact that most people won’t tell you anything more than ‘work hard and save up’, and it’s no wonder twenty-somethings have such a cynical relationship to personal finance.

But MoneyUnder30 is here to change that, one downloadable budgeting worksheet at a time. The site’s ‘Start Here’ section more than makes up for the lack of personal finance education most of us suffered during schooling, covering saving, budgeting, credit, debt, investing, and even buying a first car or house. Additionally, the blog’s creator, David Weliver, has curated a long list of apps, bank accounts, and commission-free resources he believes are the best available for young people.

Get Rich Slowly - For those who’ve given up on get-rich-quick schemes.

Battling 15 years of credit card debt, in December 2004, J.D. Roth decided to manage his personal finances like those of a small business. He drew up a debt-reduction plan and became totally debt-free in just three years. With a no-nonsense yet no-judgement attitude to money management, his blog, Get Rich Slowly, helps others do the same.

While Get Rich Slowly’s blog no longer receives regular updates, its back catalog is packed full of articles detailing J.D.’s approach to personal finance: spend wisely, save smartly, and boost income. With a site that prioritizes simplicity and practical advice, J.D. and Get Rich Slowly can help, no matter where in your financial journey you are. He’s also collated a list of all the blogs and podcasts that helped him over the years, so you’ll have more than enough reading to do.

rich & REGULAR - For couples struggling with personal finance.

Even if you’re a pro at personal finance, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s not the most stimulating topic. This is especially true if you’re battling money issues alongside your significant other. Conversations about financial management can quickly become arguments, taking all the fun out of what was meant to be a happy life. Add $200,000 worth of debt to the equation, and you’ll have the situation Kiersten and Julien found themselves in 2012. After five years of money management, they started Rich & REGULAR to share their struggles and solutions.

One of Rich & REGULAR’s strengths is the way it intertwines personal finance into lifestyle, with blog posts about cooking great food on a budget, how to indulge yourself without overspending, and general life updates from Mr and Mrs R&R that’ll make you feel much less alone on your journey to becoming debt free. If you find you like their blog, be sure to check out the rich & REGULAR podcast, too.

Personal Finance Podcasts 

How To Money - For those who want to make personal finance part of their day-to-day life.

Who better to help integrate personal finance into your daily schedule than Matt and Joel, two best friends who’ve made the journey to financial independence and want to help you do the same? If you’ve got to grips with the basics and want to learn something new, this is the podcast for you. However, you can also start right from the beginning with Matt and Joel’s Money Gears, and work your way up.

Perhaps the best thing about How to Money is that it manages to take personal finance, something many of us forget about after we’ve penned our weekly budgets, and make it interesting enough to last for almost 900 podcast episodes. The hosts welcome guests, discuss listener questions, break down current events in the world of economics, and dive deep into seemingly inconsequential money matters.

Queer Money - For members of the LGBTQ+ community seeking financial freedom.

Husbands David and John are no strangers to irresponsible financial decisions, once paying for a Vegas trip to see Madonna with their student loans. However, while they worked to improve their personal finance skills, they realized their sexuality often meant they had different priorities for money management. Collating everything they’ve learned, and are still learning, the Queer Money podcast is their effort to assist other LGBTQ+ individuals on the road to financial freedom.

Queer Money’s episodes range from bite-sized overviews of the most financially/LGBTQ+ friendly cities in America to 2-hour long discussions of how and why embracing your identity can impact your financial well-being. Plus, with just under 550 episodes in their back catalog, Queer Money will keep you busy whether you’re on your way to work or setting up a side gig.

Financial Feminist - For women who want a personal finance partner.

After saving her first $100,000 at the age of 25, Tori Dunlap became something of a sensation. Not only were people interested in her story, they wanted to replicate her success. So, in 2016, she launched Her First 100K, a financial advice blog. After much demand from her readers, she also created the Financial Feminist podcast in 2019, which quickly became the number 1 most popular business podcast for women.

Women have a unique relationship with personal finance and money management, and this is exactly what Financial Feminist seeks to explore and address. As well as guides to saving, spending, and investing, Tori hosts interviews with various financially independent women, discusses how to get the most from careers in male-dominated industries, and offers much-needed pep talks to help you along the way.

Marriage Kids and Money - For those juggling family life and increasing their income.

Managing your finances is stressful enough, but when your family depends on you to spend and save responsibly, it can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, there are several hacks and resources out there to help, and in 2016, Andy Hill, the founder of the Marriage Kids and Money blog, became determined to learn and use them all.

After paying off $50,000 worth of debt, saying goodbye to his mortgage, and creating a financial foundation that his grandchildren will benefit from, he launched the Marriage Kids and Money podcast to help other young families do the same. Being a personal finance podcast for families, Marriage Kids and Money features topics like creating generational wealth plans and saving for your children’s college funds, alongside managing the weekly grocery shop and communicating effectively about money with your kids.

In Conclusion…

Finding a blog or podcast to help educate yourself about personal finance or hone your existing skills makes the journey to financial independence seem less arduous. Once you’ve found your favorites, don’t hesitate to follow them on social media and get involved in their communities.

Having said that, don’t rush or put unnecessary pressure on yourself. Sometimes, media can sell an ideal that simply doesn’t work for everyone, so take your time and forgive your mistakes. Personal finance isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing, and it’s worth sampling a few blogs and podcasts until you find those that align with your journey.

Sources and Resources

• https://www.forbes.com/advisor/statistics/
• https://www.investopedia.com/top-10-personal-finance-podcasts-5088034
• https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/gallery/money-podcasts
• https://finance.feedspot.com/top-50-personal-finance-blogs-worth-reading/

The post The Best Personal Finance Blogs and Podcasts to Increase Your Financial Knowledge appeared first on MoneyThumb.

So, what areas of money management does personal finance cover and which ones should you focus on now for the best results? In this guide, we’ll cover the importance of personal finance and the easiest ways to start managing your money. With these tips, you’ll change the way you think about money and get a head start on achieving your financial goals.

What Is Personal Finance?

Personal finance is an umbrella term that refers to managing your money. This planning may be through a monthly budget, a tax calculator, a retirement fund, or an estate plan. Personal finance also encompasses any investments and loans you may need to plan for.

 Keeping on top of your personal finances can:

Help You Understand Money - If you don’t keep track of what you’re spending and when it can lead to a misunderstanding of the value of your money. By planning your personal finances using income and outgoings over a set period, you’ll know whether a purchase is out of your reach and how much you’ll need to earn to balance things out.

Help You Set and Achieve Financial Goals - By better understanding your money, you can decide what you want to work towards. This can be in the short term, such as a vacation or a new car, or long-term, such as a mortgage, your child’s education, or your retirement. By keeping track of, and budgeting, your money, you can follow a personal finance plan, start saving, and know exactly how long it will be before you’ll achieve your goal.

Establish Income Streams - Having a set plan for your money and clear goals to work toward will also let you know how much you need to earn. Budgeting is a skill that is vital in setting up a business, so by managing your personal finances, you’ll be well-equipped to set up other income streams. Or, you can look into investing the money you’re earning, and receiving regular dividends.

Keep You Clear - Knowing exactly where your money is going and when is the best way to make sure your earnings are higher than your outgoings. Any sudden economic difficulties or surprise payments will be much easier to deal with when you know how they will affect your personal finance plans. If you’re struggling to pay off a loan, getting everything down on a budget planner can relieve stress, giving you a clear pathway to paying off debt.

Personal Finance Tips

1. Create a Personal Finance Calendar.

 In addition to being a simple way to maintain long-term financial records, a personal finance calendar can give you control over your day-to-day spending. There are varying levels of complexity when it comes to personal finance calendars. However, for the most basic you’ll need to note down your income, regular outgoings (such as bills, standing orders, etc.), your spending, and your savings. Usually, these calendars can last a month at a time, but if you really want to break down your personal finance you can create a 7-day personal finance calendar.

2. Create Habits

 Managing your personal finance well is a long-term prospect. The best way to ensure you regularly note down your income, outgoings, purchases, and savings is to turn budgeting into a habit. Whatever you need to do to make personal finance second nature is worth it. For example, you might like to carry a notepad small enough to carry around with you, to note down purchases as soon as you make them. This also goes for savings. Having a goal for the amount you’ll be saving each week and habitually saving money will protect you from any surprise outgoings and help you plan. Looking back at how much you’ve saved is a great reward for being diligent with your personal finances.

3. Discuss Goals and Priorities

This tip can be especially important if you have children or are planning to have a family. If you and your partner have joint financial responsibilities, personal finances can encompass both of you. It’s beneficial to establish what you’ll be working toward, so you can both give your all to joint purchases, and know exactly where you are with your own finances. Setting joint goals for the coming month can help with long-term planning, and make your partner aware of your personal goals.

4. Be Smart With Loans 

Loans can be a great way to achieve your goals faster, as long as you know you’ll be able to pay them off. However, a long-term loan can be a drain on your finances, sometimes even for decades at a time. If you have a long-term loan, chances are all of your goals will be affected by regular loan payments. Work towards paying off any long-term loans and high-interest loans, such as credit card loans, as a priority. When it comes to your mortgage, things are a little different. Check with your provider whether you can adjust the rate you pay monthly and extend your term to fit around your personal finance goals.

5. Explore Investing

Sometimes we can be so focused on saving we forget there are ways to increase our savings. Of course, most investing will carry some deal of risk, so scan your general income and outgoings and make sure you could take a potential loss. However, if you have some savings gathering dust, investing can also see you achieve your goals a lot faster. You can invest as little or as much as you want, and some investment opportunities such as houses or shares, are often particularly safe. If you are new to investing, seeking advice can be a big help in deciding whether it’s right for you.

6. Treat Yourself

Who doesn’t love an impulse purchase every now and again? Budgeting your personal finance is less about stopping yourself from getting what you want, and more about learning to evaluate whether a purchase is worth it. When you know how much one purchase is worth compared to your income, and how that purchase will affect your finances a month from now, you can make sure that it’s a good one. While setting long-term goals is important, it’s good to enjoy your savings sometimes.

7. Planning Your Taxes

Taxes are one of the most important parts of personal finance. After all, everybody pays them, and they’re not going anywhere. So, knowing how much of your money is going to tax payments can help you get a deeper level of control over finances. The chances are that your accounts have different tax exemptions, so learning about these will help make sure your personal finance plan is tax efficient. For example, one way to reduce tax is to save with a retirement plan or an IRA.

8. Be Flexible

Once an individual has opened their first bank account, they will rarely open many other accounts with different banks. This is why banks offer such great interest rates for first-time bankers. However, the longer you’ve had your account, the more your interest rates may drop. It’s worth re-evaluating your accounts and insurance providers to ensure you’re receiving the best interest rates you could be. Switching bank accounts does mean moving money around, but being flexible may be the key to achieving your personal finance goals.

9. Keep Learning

 Personal finance can be quite a complex topic, especially when you start to get into the smaller, but no less important, details. Starting simple is far better than not managing your personal finances at all, so only do what you’re comfortable with. However, if you’re serious about maximizing your savings and achieving your personal financial goals, dive deeper into what personal finance can bring you. There are many financial literacy courses available from renowned tutors, and enlisting the help of a financial advisor can guide you in the right direction and prepare you for the future.

Conclusion

Personal finance can take a while to master, but you can start managing your finances whenever you like. It’s best to get into the habit of budgeting and saving your money every week or month, by noting down your income, any bills you pay, your savings, and any and all purchases you make.

You should also take note of any accounts you have, any loans you have, and where you are storing your savings. By recording how these affect your net worth, and your overall income vs. outgoings, you’ll be able to plan for both long-term and short-term financial goals. Remember, your personal financial plan only has to be as in-depth as you need it to be and can change with your, and your family’s, priorities. Good luck!

Sources

• https://www.themuse.com/advice/50-personal-finance-tips-that-will-change-the-way-you-think-about-money
• https://www.moneyfit.org/how-to-change-the-way-you-think-about-money/
• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/personalfinance.asp
• https://www.wikijob.co.uk/finance/saving-budgeting/personal-finance-tips
• https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/the-importance-of-having-good-personal-finance-management
• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax-planning.asp
• https://www.investopedia.com/guide-to-financial-literacy-4800530
• https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/budgeting/beginners-guide-to-managing-your-money

The post Personal Finance: Changing the Way You Think About Money Will Change Your Life appeared first on MoneyThumb.

This is why demystifying personal finance and learning how to manage your money is a skill that can transform your life. From short-term goals like getting those new curtains you love to buying a dream home and even planning for your retirement, effective money management can empower you to take control of your life.

Whether you’re a scrimper, a saver, or a spender, there are always improvements to be made in the way you handle your cash. In this guide, we’ll be unraveling personal finance and breaking money management down into actionable steps. With these strategies and techniques, you’ll be able to maximize your money and make the purchases you want. Let’s dive in…

Why Is Personal Finance So Important?

 Good personal finance can have a profound impact on your life. It offers you a variety of benefits, including:

• Financial freedom - Without financial constraints, you’ll be able to make small purchases that fulfill you, and achieve your financial dreams like purchasing property.
• Financial awareness - With a clear picture of your financial situation in your head at all times, you’ll be able to recognize when a purchase will serve you or when you should cool down on your spending.
• Peace of mind - Around 90% of Americans cite money as a stress factor in their lives. A solid financial foundation can eliminate this stress and offer you peace of mind.
• Goal achievement - Personal finance will lead you to success, helping you achieve life goals like owning a home, travelling the world, or maintaining your Pokemon card collection.
• Debt management - Financial management will allow you to strategically pay down loans and never take another out.
• Emergency and rainy day funds - Life often throws unexpected situations at us, but with money management skills you’ll be able to save enough to adapt to financial emergencies.

It’s never too early or too late to get a hold of your financial situation. Once you understand your spending habits and begin financial planning, you’ll have a foundation to invest and generate more income. But, gathering the skills necessary will take time and experience, so let’s dive a little deeper.

Setting Your Financial Goals

The very first step to taking control of your finances is giving yourself something to work towards. A concrete financial goal will motivate you to make spending and saving decisions accordingly and stay on the road to success.

You can set both long-term and short-term goals, but make sure they are specific. If it’s a certain purchase you want to make, include the price and how long you have to fulfill this objective. It’s worth writing these goals down somewhere that you’ll see regularly.

Once you’ve decided on your goals, it’s time to plan how you’ll achieve them.

Budgeting For Success

Budgeting is to personal finance as a compass is to a navigator. It will be your best tool, a necessary tool, and it will help you plan your next steps to achieve your goals. However, there are many different ways to budget. The type of budgeting that works well for you will have a lot to do with your attitudes toward money.

Before you select a budgeting method, it’s worth asking yourself:

• What is my current financial situation? How did I get here?
• How often do I treat myself? How often can I afford to treat myself?
• If I had unlimited money, would I still carefully consider my purchases?
• Am I prepared to sacrifice smaller purchases in favor of large ones?
• Can I keep up habits or do I need incentives?
• What tools and skills can I use to record my spending and savings?

The answers you recorded to these questions will help you determine what you need from a budget. For example, if you answered that you’d track your progress on a spreadsheet, you can opt for a more traditional budget that breaks down exact income and outgoings every month. If you answered that you like to treat yourself, you should opt for a budget that allows you to make personal purchases often. This will help you stay on track without feeling like you’re limiting yourself.

Budgeting is not a one-size-fits-all situation, and it’s important to select a budgeting strategy that suits your money mindset and lifestyle. So, without further ado, here are some popular budgeting strategies that will help maximize your money:

1. 50/30/20 Budget

This budgeting method is perfect for those who like to spend a little extra on themselves and don’t mind waiting a tad longer to achieve their goals. You’ll need a good idea of how much you earn every month, and you’ll need to keep your optional bills like subscription services to a minimum.

Essentially, using your total monthly income, you allocate 50% of it to your needs (food, toiletries, rent, insurance, bills), 30% of it to your wants (gifts, activities), and 20% of it to your savings. This budgeting system is regimented, so if your needs change from one month to another, this may not be a good fit for you.

2. Zero-Base Budget

Again, this budget is a great choice if you know how much you’ll be earning every month and when your bills are charged to your account. It also gives you a lot of freedom to spend your remaining cash however you want, but it doesn’t leave much room for emergency funding. It also requires slightly more willpower than other budgeting methods if you want to save.

The zero-base budget means you’ll return to having $0 available at the end of every month. After your bills and necessary payments have left your account, you can allocate the remaining funds to activities, small purchases, savings, and subscriptions as you please. You can plan how you’ll spend at the start of the month, or decide which purchases you’ll make after your outgoings have left your account.

3. Pay Yourself First

This budgeting strategy prioritizes saving, so it’s perfect if you are working toward a large purchase. It’s also a great choice if you don’t want to list out exact amounts for spending. However, it does mean you’ll have to forgo smaller purchases in the meantime.

The pay-yourself-first budget means you set aside a specific amount from your monthly income for your savings or debt repayment. The rest of your income is then used for bills and necessary expenses such as food.

4. Envelope Budget

The envelope budget offers a lot of freedom for how you spend your monthly income. Because it uses cash, you’ll also be able to get precise and go as in-depth with what you spend your money on as suits you. You will need to know precisely how much you spend on bills each month and the exact dates that these charges leave your account.

You’ll have an envelope for each of your outgoings after your bills have left your account. One may be a grocery shopping envelope, while others may be allocated to personal purchases, car funds, holiday savings, emergency savings, presents for your kids, etc. At the start of your month, you allocate cash amounts to these envelopes. When you go food shopping, you’ll bring along your grocery shopping envelope. The savings envelopes will likely be filled at the end of the month with your remaining cash and can be placed somewhere for safekeeping.

5. ‘No’ Budget

Finally, this budgeting method is great for those who have significant loan and debt repayments that need to be paid each month. You don’t need to go too in-depth with how much money is allocated to specific areas. All you need to focus on is your necessary outgoings.

Set reminders on your phone and calendar for when your bills and repayments leave your account. Time your food, clothing, and toiletries purchases around these repayments and try and keep these expenses the same every month. At the end of the month, if you have money left you can spend it how you please. However, during the month, you’ll need to tell yourself ‘no’ if you want to make unnecessary purchases. Once your debts are paid off, you can choose a different budgeting method from those listed above.

Income Generation

Every budgeting method hinges on your monthly income. So, to maximize your money, it’s worth looking at how you generate income and finding ways to increase this amount. Here are some approaches to consider:

Additional Income Streams - More work equals more money, so if you have the time, finding a second job will be worth it in the long run. Consulting and freelancing work are good options, as they’ll allow you to set prices that fit with your goals.

Passive Income - Depending on your lifestyle, taking on a second job may not be possible. This is why many people opt for passive income streams. However, passive income is misleading, as these streams often take a lot of work and will need to be factored into your budget. For example, renting out property will require you to purchase that property, which in turn will require very strict budgeting.

Monetizing Your Hobbies - Another way to generate income, if you don’t have time to get a second job or the funds needed to set up passive income streams, is to monetize your hobbies. If you enjoy scrapbooking, consider making cards or picture frames that you can sell. If you spend a lot of time reading, a successful book review blog can be monetized.

Investments and Savings - If you’ve been budgeting for a while and have some savings set aside, consider moving these to a specialized account with a favorable interest rate. Or, why not invest in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds? Successful investing is a skill all of its own, so be sure to do your research before you put your money into investment opportunities. Or, invest in yourself and take courses that will allow you to set up a second income stream, or invest in professional financial help from an advisor.

Many of these strategies for income generation will require you to set aside more of your money. For example, if you’re setting up and running your own small business from home until your business is self-sufficient enough to warrant its own budget, your expenses will need to come out of your income. Remember to factor these expenses into your chosen budgeting method.

Financial Tools and Resources

Finally, personal finance is an industry all of its own, and there are countless tools and resources out there that you can use to your benefit. You should consider making use of:

Banking Apps - If you have an account with a certain bank, these apps will be free to use. They are invaluable in recording your monthly income and outgoings, and many will even allow you to set up savings accounts in-app.

Budgeting Apps - If you struggle to budget on paper or use your resources, budgeting apps can be a huge help. They’ll prompt you when you need to input income and outgoings information and will do the rest for you. Most of them will charge a subscription fee, so make sure you can afford this.

Financial Calculators - If you’re working toward a large purchase like a house, financial calculators will let you know exactly how much you need to save. Bankrate and NerdWallet provide mortgage calculators, retirement calculators, and debt calculators.

Credit Monitoring Services - After paying off loans and debt, and when looking to make big purchases, it’s worth monitoring your credit score. Services such as Credit Karma and Experian offer free ways to check your credit score and advice to get it in the green.

Financial Education Sites - Investopedia, The Balance, and The Motley Fool are all sites that provide free financial education through articles and guides from experts. Invest in yourself by doing the research and teaching yourself important aspects of personal finance.

Community and Support Groups - Everyone struggles with money at one point or another, so having the support of a group within your community can make a huge difference to the way you view your income. Groups like these can also offer opportunities like housing cooperatives.

Conclusion

Money will always play a crucial role in our lives, and learning the skills necessary to manage it takes time and effort. Personal finance is essential to managing your finances and achieving lasting peace of mind.

By setting clear goals, implementing a budgeting strategy that works for you, generating further income, and taking advantage of financial resources, you can pave the way to a prosperous financial future for yourself and your family, no matter where you are on life’s journey.

Invest in yourself by committing to your personal finance and you can maximize your money in simple ways. Financial well-being is within your reach, so apply what you’ve learned here and you’ll already be halfway to success. Good luck!

Sources

• https://www.annuity.org/personal-finance/
• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/personalfinance.asp
• https://www.cnbc.com/select/why-americans-are-stressed-about-money/
• https://www.ramseysolutions.com/personal-growth/setting-financial-goals
• https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/how-to-set-financial-goals
• https://www.lendingtree.com/student/simple-budget/
• https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/types-of-budget-plans/
• https://www.moneynuggets.co.uk/different-personal-budgeting-methods/
• https://www.bankrate.com/investing/passive-income-ideas/
• https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/boost-your-income/
• https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/starting-new-job/how-increase-income
• https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/your-financial-situation/saving-money-and-increasing-income.aspx

The post Personal Finance: A Definitive Guide to Maximizing Your Money appeared first on MoneyThumb.

The resource we are referring to is all about personal finance help for millennials. It is the website of Rick Orford, The Financially Independent Millennial. In addition to a wealth of personal finance advice, Rick has several valuable freebies for millennials to download, such as a fill-in-the-blank budget spreadsheet and personal finance balance sheet, along with a free net worth calculator.

Mr. Orford has a ton of great blog content with personal finance advice for millennials. One post in particle you might want to bookmark, and Rick even suggests doing so to his readers because it is long and you'd want to read it over time. The blog post is titled Personal Finance Tips: The Ultimate Guide.

There is also a section with a list of the Top 100 Financial Blogs of 2021. This list can be very helpful for anyone, not just millennials.

As for our own contribution to financial advice for millennials, the Rules of Thumb blog offers the following 4 Financial Tips for Millennials:

1. Always try to keep a good credit score--You'll need a good credit score to do the things needed to grow your wealth, like buy a home, get a good deal on credit cards and loans, and get a great job (yes, employers do check credit scores.) Get a free credit report once a year from sites like Experian or Equifax. Get Report via Annualcreditscore.com. You can also usually get your FICO credit score from your bank or credit card company.
2. Build a Household Budget--Every millennial household needs a budget. A budget is your ledger of financial checks and balances -- how much money is coming into the house and where it should be disbursed, pay for things like bills, groceries, college, travel and entertainment, and other household issues like surprise medical bills and unanticipated costs of big vehicle repair, among other costs. To build your budget, estimate your regular income and expenses, ideally monthly, as that's how most bills are paid. Take a special look at your household spending and look for ways you can rein that spending in.
3. Build an Emergency Fund--Yes, you're young and healthy, but a job loss, an illness or injury, a major household vehicle repair, or even a small business venture that goes under can place you in financial peril. That's where an emergency fund can help. Having the equivalent of three months of salary and income on hand (six months would be better and a year's worth is ideal) should help you survive a short-term financial hardship.
   
4. Invest for the Long Haul--Study after study shows that the sooner you begin saving for retirement the more money you'll accumulate for retirement. That's due to the miracle of compound interest, which takes regular investment contributions and uses them to fuel retirement account growth (as long as you don't take money out of your retirement fund.) Basically, compound interest is when you earn interest not only on your original investment but also on the interest that money has already earned. Through compounding, your investment assets grow, slowly at first, then faster as the years accumulate.

We hope that the above resources and information will help you as a millennial handle your finances better and smarter. For even more assistance in taking care of personal finances, MoneyThumb offers our PDF financial file converters for personal use. Take a test drive of this best-selling product by following this link.

The post The Best Personal Financial Advice for Millennials appeared first on MoneyThumb.

Before you go crazy and head to Walmart, the Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb would like to suggest a different plan. Sure, treat yourself to something nice, you deserve it, but don't spend very much, rather put that money to work for you. This is the secret of people who have disposable income, they invest their money and watch it grow.

We realize that there are many who admit they don't handle money well. Maybe this is a chance to change that? To help you change your attitude towards money and learn to budget while living more abundantly, we would like to share some FREE personal finance courses you can take. There couldn't be a better time to learn from the experts how to adjust your outlook on money and change your personal finances for the better.

In our research, the Rules of Thumb blog has discovered what we feel are the top 5 best, free personal finance courses. We have listed them below:

1. Personal Finance 101: Everything You Need to Know--At the end of this course, students will be able to...Build excellent credit, Manage debt, including student loans, Invest wisely and effortlessly,
   File a tax return, Get a great bank account, Understand credit cards, Understand and get six types of insurance, Make a spending plan, Buy a car, Find a great apartment, Buy a house, Get a jump start on retirement, Save for college, Get out of credit card debt, avoid identity theft and fraud, Understand an estate plan, Navigate dating and finances, Navigate marriage and finances, Navigate children and finances, Navigate divorce and finances.
2. Inspired Budget's Budgeting Basics--How to write a budget. Items that are most likely missing from your budget. What you can cut from your budget. How to use cash envelopes. How to pay off debt fast. How to keep everything organized.
3. Clever Girl--This website has 30+ free personal finance courses!
4. Ramit Sethi's The Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance. Mr. Sethi is a New York Times bestselling author of the book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich. In this free downloadable PDF, you will learn about money mistakes, automation, hidden income, investing, eliminating debt, and earning more.
5. Personal Finance--This free course is courtesy of Missouri State University! So you will actually be taking a free college course, in reality. It is only available through Apple iTunes, but millions of people have iphones or ipads, so this is for you. A study of personal finance topics from the consumer and societal perspectives. Topics include the preparation and interpretation of personal financial statements and budgets, the time value of money, personal saving, financial market and investment fundamentals, the effective use of consumer credit, personal bankruptcy, insurance principles, automotive and housing decisions, principles of personal taxation, and retirement planning. This course will provide students with the concepts and critical thinking skills to understand the effects of financial decisions on individuals, families, and society.

We think these are the best of the best free courses when it comes to learning about personal finances, and hope our readers will take advantage of them. Please share this blog post on your social media channel so that your peers can benefit from these free courses too.

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The survey concluded that Americans struggle to comprehend risk more than any other financial concept. Unfortunately, Americans also received a “failing grade” on overall financial knowledge in the survey with the average number of questions answered correctly barely above 50%. The study shows that many Americans are stuck in paycheck-to-paycheck survival mode and have debt that keeps other financial goals out of reach.

Below are some quotes from an article at CNBC covering the survey and its results.

“We’re not measuring how smart people are. We are not measuring how much people understand math. We want to understand basic concepts that allow us to make good decisions,” said Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Chair of Economics and Accountancy at the George Washington University School of Business and a co-author of the study.

Ted Jenkin, CEO and founder of oXYGen Financial, a financial advisory and wealth management firm specializing in Generations X and Y, and a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council, said many people do struggle with basic risk concepts. “People can say they will invest more when the market is down 20%, but in real life, they don’t do it,” he said.

“Everyone understands rewards, but hardly anyone understands risk. We should be trying to get back to basic financial literacy about risk and time,” Jenkin said. “The stock market is a long-term investment. People without five years or more to be in it shouldn’t be in it. There is just not enough education on risk,” he said, and that is always compounded after a period of time during which the market seemed to only go up.

The survey was conducted among more than 1,000 American adults throughout the month of January. That is key because the U.S. market was still booming at the time, unemployment was low, and that means more recent events reinforce the importance of the failings exposed in the data. And the question on risk was far from the only one Americans struggled to answer.

As your guide through this unfortunate round of information, The Rules of Thumb blog would not present our readers with a problem that does not also have a solution. That solution is education. However, if you are barely getting by financially, it is kind of hard to concentrate on getting educated about something that you do not have in excess, which is money.

The post Survey Says: We Need to Become Better Educated About Personal Finances appeared first on MoneyThumb.

Start Early

Carlos Slim Helú as noted in Wikipedia is a Mexican businessman who was ranked as the richest person in the world for a few years. Slim's personal finance tips reflect commonly held wisdom among wealth-building experts, including this very basic tip: start early. The sooner you start managing, saving, and investing your money, however, limited, the better off you'll be as long as you avoid mistakes like throwing all your investment money into one stock. Slim lived this advice, buying shares in a Mexican bank at age 12, and earning 200 pesos a week at as a teen working for his father's company.

Find Your Passion

Your bank account may be empty, but believing in yourself at the most fundamental level costs nothing. As billionaire Oprah Winfrey said, in an article at US News/Money, "You become what you believe. You are where you are today in your life based on everything you have believed." Change is possible whatever your situation and the first step is believing in yourself.

Christopher Paul Gardner is "only" a millionaire, but he was a homeless single father for a time. Carmine Gallo from Forbes had the opportunity to ask Gardner his secret to success, and Gardner said, in the Forbes interview, "Carmine, here's the secret to success: find something you love to do so much, you can't wait for the sun to rise to do it all over again." Maybe you can't start that design business, but you can go online or go to your library and start learning about it, and the sooner you do so, the better.

You Don't Have to Game the System

Billionaire Warren Buffett lives in Omaha, and he made his investment fortune on the fundamentals as shown in a Yahoo.com article from that link. Focusing on companies with strong annual cash flow, and choosing companies that aren't at risk of technical obsolescence. Buffett spent the early part of his career investing in insurance companies. It's not sexy, but it obviously worked. Whether you have $50 to invest or $5,000, sticking with the fundamentals is smart.

Simplify Your Life

This personal finance tip is similar to the previous one. Warren Buffett lives in a house he bought in 1957 for $31,500. Carlos Slim has lived in the same house for more than 40 years. Constantly pursuing things you don't need puts you on a financial treadmill, not an upward escalator.

Walking and Taking Public Transport Is Nothing to Be Ashamed Of

John Caudwell, David Cheriton, and Chuck Feeney are billionaires you probably haven't heard of, but all three as Investopedia notes walk, ride bikes or use public transport for everyday getting around. It's easy on the bank account, and better for the environment. If these guys aren't ashamed at taking the bus, you shouldn't be either. Haters are gonna hate. Ignore them.

Cars Are Consumer Goods

Ingvar Kamprad of Ikea drives a 10-year-old Volvo, and Walmart billionaire Jim Walton drives a 15-year-old pickup truck. Don't waste time on the idea that a car is a status symbol. Sure, if you're a car aficionado, there's nothing wrong with restoring or buying that sweet ride you've dreamed about, if you can afford to. But for most people, including rich people, getting from Point A to Point B in safety and reasonable comfort is sufficient. Some personal finance tips are about distinguishing needs from wants.

As you can see, it is not ridiculous to take personal finance advice from billionaires, it is actually smart thinking because so many very wealthy people started from very humble backgrounds. Whatever your financial situation, you can improve it, and personal finance tips offered by the very wealthy can make sense in just about any situation.

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Unfortunately, both the IRS and banks place a high priority on keeping these two aspects of life separate.  Personal accounting software can help with this problem in several different ways. The Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb has listed those ways below:

1. Instantly Separate Expenses--One of the biggest issues for many business owners is assigning a category to each expense.  If you frequently find yourself purchasing items for business at the same time or place that you shop for personal items, you need the ability to quickly click and sort a receipt into categories.

2. Assign a Percentage of Expenses to Categories--If you work out of a home office, then you need to be able to assign a percentage of your utility and rental costs to your business and the other to your personal finances.  Even if you’re paying for everything out of the same account, this will be important when you need to compute how profitable your business is.

3. Generate Expense Reports for Tax Purposes--The main reason for keeping your expenses separate is that the IRS needs to know what you spent on your business.  Doing this by hand means that you’re probably going to miss a lot of things that can be tax deductible.  Fortunately, personal accounting software will scan all of your expenses and determine which items are of interest to your tax preparer.

4. Track Different Revenue Streams--If you earn money from several different business ventures (or if there are multiple income earners in your household) it’s important to keep track of the source of each dollar your household sees. Not only will this be crucial information to have during tax time, but it’s also good for keeping track of which business ventures are actually bringing in income.  In addition, personal accounting software is a good idea for families that have a lot of investments outside of their business, such as rental property or stocks.

5. You’ll Save Time--Of course, you can do any of these things without the help of accounting software, but odds are that unless you’re very dedicated to bookkeeping, you’re going to have issues with receipts and bills that go missing or get misfiled.  Ultimately, you have to decide if personal accounting software is a good way to avoid spending hours struggling with your business and personal finances.

If this Rules of Thumb blog post from MoneyThumb has helped you decide it's time to begin using personal finance software to separate your personal and business spending and income, The Balance offers this article with The 8 Best Personal Finance Software Choices for 2019. Another great way to assist your business is by using our PDF financial file converters which are specifically designed for small business owners. Between the advice we have offered here on personal finance software and our MoneyThumb tools, your business can begin to soar as it should.

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1. Hide Money from Yourself

This approach will have you using the out of sight out of mind philosophy and it is to make sure you’re not regularly reminded that you have certain money. A few ways to accomplish this is to set up savings accounts at a separate institution from the one that has your checking account, so you’re not seeing your savings balance every time you log on. Or you could sign up for paperless statements for your retirement account, and then don’t check them more than once or twice a year.

2. Automate Money into Savings

Willpower is overrated. Set up automatic transfers, and you likely won’t miss the money as it’s whisked from your paycheck to your retirement fund (for example) or from your checking account to savings.

3. Give Your Savings a Pet Name

Labeling an account with its purpose can be a powerful deterrent to tapping the money for other uses. Online banks allow you to set up multiple sub-accounts at no extra cost, and each one can be given a name: vacation, property taxes, new car fund, holidays and so on. The names make you think about what you’re really sacrificing when you spend the money thoughtlessly. You may not be able to rename your employer retirement fund, but you often can input nicknames for IRAs and other brokerage accounts.

4. Use an App

Digit analyzes your checking account transactions, then transfers money you won’t miss into a Digit savings account. Acorn does something similar but looks across all your accounts and invests the spare money. Bank of America has a program called Keep the Change that rounds up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the change into your savings account.

5. Lock it up

You should keep at least $500 cash easily accessible for small emergencies. Beyond that, consider creating some barriers to accessing the money. Certificates of deposit can be a good option for savings accounts since you pay a small penalty if you break into them early. If you’re tempted to cash in retirement funds, remember that taxes and penalties typically will equal 25% to 50% of any withdrawal.

6. Save your rewards

Use a cash-back rewards credit card for your expenses, pay the balance in full every month and regularly transfer the rewards to your savings account or IRA.

7. Divert Money

Every time you cancel a subscription, disconnect service or pay off a debt, divert that monthly payment into savings.

8. Bank your windfalls

Define a windfall broadly as any extra money that lands in your lap: rebates, bonuses, refunds (including your tax refund). Carve out 10% to spend any way you want and then save the rest.

9. Make it a game

There are a lot of folks who save every $5 or $10 bill that wanders into their wallets. Others stuff every $1 bill they get into a change jar at the end of the day. Every month, feed the green to your savings account. Some people even hide money in coat pockets in their closet during warm weather so you forget you have it.

10. Save your raise

Got a 3% raise? Boost your 401(k) or IRA contribution by at least 2%. You’ll get a little extra in your paycheck while putting most of your raise to work for your future.

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Go Over Long-Term Financial Planning with Family

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