10 Financial Choices You’ll Regret in a Decade
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4. Not Having an Emergency Fund
An emergency fund will protect you through the rough patches during your life. From your car breaking down to losing your job – you never know what can happen, or when. It’s usual to have anywhere from 3 to 12 months’ worth of living expenses in your emergency fund to protect you if disaster strikes.
If you’re single and living alone, you’ll likely need more money to cushion you. Whereas, if you’re married and both you and your spouse work, you won’t need as much because you can still rely on one salary. Make sure you always keep your emergency fund in an easily accessible account, like an online savings account. Also, after you’ve used your emergency fund for any reason – make sure you replenish it.
5. Buying a Brand-New Car That You Can’t Afford
A car is important and necessary to a lot of people, but don’t be tempted to buy one that you can’t afford. The average car payment in America is around $600 per month and takes 6 years to fully pay off. Instead of committing to a huge chunk of your earning being eaten up consider buying a used car. There are many that are just as reliable but come with a price tag that is thousands of dollars less.
6. Trying to be a DIY Investor When You Have No Idea What You Are Doing
Unless you are a financial professional or have had some financial education you can make a real mess of the stock market. If you don’t know what you’re doing, enlist the help of a financial advisor. There is one potentially disastrous scenario can happen to older couples.
Likely, the husband has been in charge of the couple’s investments for years, with the wife knowing little to none. Then, something happens to the husband, and she doesn’t know the difference between a stock and a bond. To save yourself from a situation like this in years to come hire a financial advisor that you can rely on in case anything happens.
