Saving more money can sometimes seem impossible, but with the right saving strategy, you can save a lot of money. I like to focus on the 3 big expenses – housing, transportation and food – to save more money fast.

In this post, you’ll learn how to save more money fast and increase your savings by focusing on these 3 areas of spending to improve your financial situation.

There are a number of ways for a person to improve their financial situation: increasing your income, increasing your savings rate, decreasing your expenses, or getting a windfall, to name a few.

My goal is to increase my income, though I’m always cognizant of the big three expenses: housing, transportation, and food.

These are called the big three because, typically, they will be your three biggest yearly expenses (shocking right?). Reducing expenses in these areas will have the biggest impact on your financial situation.

Yes, it’s easy to look at that $4 latte each day and think dropping that will help reduce your expenses, but honestly, $4 a day is $120 a month – not a crazy amount of money.

Switching houses or apartments could result in a $500 per month saving with little to no effort – and you’re still caffeinated. 🙂

I believe we all should be cognizant of these three expenses.

Here are some tips and tricks for saving more money on your three biggest expenses.

How to Reduce Housing Costs

In real estate, the main determinant of housing cost is location.

“Location, location, location!” you will hear, and it’s true.

The areas where there is higher demand, due to better schools, better jobs, and better attractions, will be more expensive than areas where there is lower demand.

An obvious way to reduce your housing cost is to downsize to a smaller house or apartment.

In the metropolitan area I live, a 3000 square foot house might cost in the range of $350,000 to $450,000.  A 1500 square foot house, on the other hand, might cost in the range of $200,000 to $250,000.

This immediate cost savings of $100,000 to $200,000 adds up quickly when you consider savings on interest, property taxes and insurance.

For a 30-year home mortgage at 5% interest for $400,000, you can expect to pay nearly $375,000 in interest over 30 years.

Compare that to a $200,000 home, also at 5% interest and over a 30 year period, and you will only end up paying $186,000 in interest.

That’s a savings of nearly $200,000 over 30 years – just in interest!

Another way to reduce housing costs is to share your housing space with roommates. When you are single, this is easy – just grab a friend or two and divvy up the rent and utilities such as water and electricity to share with your friends. Learn how to calculate electricity bill to monitor your monthly power consumption.

If you are married, and/or have kids, then it might be a little bit more difficult to get roommates. Luckily, there are other ways to share space, while also reducing your housing costs.

House Hacking

I’m a huge fan of house hacking. I bought a single family house in 2015, and rented it out to three friends while I also lived there.

Because of this, I earned over $39,000 in 2 and a half years – just by house hacking!

While this sounds impressive, there have been dozens of other more successful house hackers.

One of my fellow personal finance and real estate bloggers, Guy on FIRE, has amassed a nearly $500,000 net worth by age 30 through house hacking and real estate.

By buying a multi-unit property (such as a duplex or triplex), you can have the privacy of a single family home, and rent out the remaining units to cover your mortgage and reduce your housing costs.

Using AirBnB

Another way to save more money on housing costs is to rent out your unused space through AirBnB.

I’ve never stayed in an AirBnB and I’ve never personally rented out space using the platform, but I know of many people who are successfully doing this. One of them is my friend Financial Panther, who rents out one of his rooms on AirBnB.

He makes a pretty good amount each month, which is helping to cover part of his mortgage.

There are many ways to reduce housing costs, and depending on your level of comfort with renting out your house to others, there are various solutions you can try.

How to Reduce Transportation Costs

Unless you work from home, or are a hermit, there’s a good chance you use some form of transportation. Going to work, going to the gym, traveling to see friends and family – there’s always somewhere to be and people to hang out with.

Saving money on transportation is similar to housing in that if you want to own a car, buy something that is used and affordable. You’ve probably heard that when a new car rolls off the lot for the first time, the car loses 10%+ in value, just like that.

Therefore, if wealth is a goal of yours, buying a new car for $40,000 might not be the best choice, since in the first day of driving, you lose $4,000. Buying a used car for $20,000 or less might be a better choice for reducing expenses in the long term.

I bought a used 2014 VW Jetta for $13,000. It runs like new, and gets 37 mpg on the highway. I love it and since I own it in full, and drive it a few thousand miles a year, I’m going to get my money’s worth over 15-20 years. I could have bought a nicer car, but then I might still be paying for it many years later.

Riding Bikes and Taking Public Transportation

As the push for green travel takes place in many cities around the world, biking and public transportation continue to be a great option for people who want to reduce transportation expenses. I take the bus to work every day and pay $50 a month for the bus pass.

If I was going to drive, this would result in wear and tear on my car, $10+ a day in parking costs, and additional gas costs from filling up once or twice a week. All of this totaled up could add a few hundred more dollars to my monthly expenses.

Instead, I’ll pay my $50 and get a little bit of reading done on the bus!

Other people bike every day to work, get their exercise, and save the $50 I’ve been spending monthly to further save money on transportation costs!  I applaud the people in Minnesota who bike to work in the freezing temperature. It’s bad enough standing at the bus stop in 0 degree weather!

By driving something a little more affordable, using public transportation or riding your bike, you can reduce your transportation expense, which can be another way to increase your savings fast!

How to Reduce Food Costs

Reducing food costs can be as simple as eating out less.

When you go out to eat, there are a lot of added costs hidden within the price you end up paying: the service, the overhead of the restaurant, the tip and any additional tax.  I know this, and we all know this: eating out consistently is expensive.

I eat out for lunch at work. Typically, I go for a fast food type place (think Chipotle or something similar) and look to keep my daily lunch expense under $9.

This quickly adds up over the month (20 working days times $9 each lunch is $180).  Throw in any snacks I have at work, and during a working day I will spend $10 or more.

I generally do not go out to eat for dinner, and don’t drink much anymore. I’m saving some money there, but those work lunches are my main deterrent to having a bare bones food and drink expense (and maybe I’d have bare bones then!)

Like I said, cutting the number of times we eat out a month will reduce your food costs. By eating in, cooking meals in bulk or meal planning, you can save a few hundred dollars a month.

There are many resources out there for how to meal plan, bulk cook, or couponing to save at the grocery store, and I won’t go into these – I just want to make you aware that these are possibilities to reduce your food costs.

How Personal Finance Blogs Community Members are Managing their Big 3 Expenses

One of the great things about having readers is being able to ask them about their strategies for financial success.  A number of people contributed to the question of how they are managing their three big expenses.

Cynthia, one of my readers, said the following about housing expenses:

Our wealth began to snowball when we paid off our mortgage early. There is nothing like being truly debt free.

Congrats, Cynthia, you are one of the lucky ones! Not paying interest to the bank can add up in your brokerage or savings account!

Gwen, a blogger at Fiery Millennials, uses a three-prong strategy to attack these three major expenses:

I’m house hacking, I meal prep during the week, and I drive a 2005 car as to not be indebted to the bank and put my cash to good use in the present.

Another house hacker! I’m so impressed!

Dom, a blogger at Gen Y Finance Guy, uses a term he calls “Relative Frugality” to look at his three main expenses:

We simply practice what I have coined ‘Relative Frugality’. We don’t spend so much time managing the expense side of the equation as we focus on increasing the income side of the equation. The overall goal is to save 50% of our after-tax income and live on the other 50% guilt free. It’s a free ticket to enjoy lifestyle inflation. One thing we did intentionally do on the housing front was bought a house that at the time was 50% less than the bank said we could afford, but was still 3X the size we probably needed. The mortgage with insurance and property taxes makes up less than 10% of our gross income.

It’s cool seeing what different goals and scenarios people have, and how they are applying the strategic plan to their situation!

Conclusion

Being aware of how much you are spending on your three main expenses is step 1, and looking for ways to reduce these costs will help you get a handle on your expenses and increase your savings fast.

Moving to a cheaper apartment, house hacking, cooking in bulk and riding your bike or the bus to work are all great ways to reduce your expenses quickly.

As a current bus rider and previous house hacker, I’ve experienced the great benefits of these cost-cutting tactics.

I hope you can take what you’ve learned here and make some changes to see bigger savings in your future.

Creating a budget can be a great way for you to improve your financial situation. There are many different budgeting methods you can use, and in this post, you’ll learn about 5 simple budgeting methods.

Budgeting is one of most common ways for a person to get on their way to personal finance success.

With budgeting, you can determine ahead of time what you will spend your money on, and what you will have left over each month.

Budgeting is to personal finance what dieting is to nutrition. Both require a self-discipline and accountability, and they can be challenging and seem discouraging at times.

However, with consistency and effort, budgeting works.

Budgeting and dieting also share another common trait: they run on deficits and surpluses.

If you want to gain weight, you need to consume more than you burn.

If you want to gain wealth, you need to have income higher than your expenses.

This deficit and surplus theory is the no-nonsense foundation of diets and budgeting methods alike.

In this post, you’ll learn about 5 simple budgeting methods, and how you can budget to make the most of your money.

First, let’s talk about your spending habits and think about what you need vs. what you want.

Applying Simplicity to Your Budget and Life

For those new to the site, you should know I’m a big fan of simple living. This mindset of simplicity applies to budgeting and spending as well.

First, before looking to start budgeting, it’s important to think about your financial goals and current lifestyle.

• Are you looking to save up money for a new purchase?
• Are you looking to get a house or new car?
• What about take a vacation?
• Do you want to start prioritizing health and wellness, and are fine with spending more on healthy food?

With these thoughts, then you can start to determine how much more you want to spend on other categories, and align your goals with your actions.

But first, what is a budget?

What is a Budget?

First, what is a budget?

A budget is just a plan for how you spend your money every month.

That’s it. Nothing fancy. It’s just you telling your money what to do.

But it can be a lot more than that if you’re constantly stressed over your finances. When you make a budget, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to:

• See where your money is going
• Figure out what you’re wasting money on
• Create a plan for paying down debt
• Build an emergency fund for rainy days
• Save and invest for retirement or your kids’ college
• Plan out your financial goals
• Understanding your spending patterns and triggers
• Stop freaking out over money

That last one is really important.

Money is not everything in life, but it is a tool you can use to create the life you want and deserve – without stress.

With these pre-budgeting thoughts and questions out of the way, let’s get on to the 5 simple budgeting methods for personal finance success.

5 Simple Budgeting Methods for Personal Finance Success

Budgeting doesn’t have to be hard or complex, and there are a number of different ways to make sure you are spending your money on what brings you joy.

Below are 5 simple budgeting methods for you to choose from:

1. The 50 / 30 / 20 Budgeting Method
2. The 80 / 20 Budgeting Method
3. The 60% Solution Budgeting Method
4. The Cash Envelope Budgeting Method
5. No Budget

In the following sections, we’ll go into detail to learn more about these budgeting methods.

It may take some experimenting to find what works for you. After all, personal finance is personal!

1. The 50 / 30 / 20 Budgeting Method

Elizabeth Warren, a law professor and U.S. Senator, first referenced the 50 / 30 / 20 budgeting method in the book “All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan.”

Simply put, the 50 / 30 /20 budgeting method involves spending 50% of your take-home pay on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on investing and/or debt repayment.

With the 50 / 30 / 20 budgeting method, you only have 3 line items to track every month – it cannot get much simpler than that!

What this method requires is for you to clearly define what is a need vs. what is a want in your life.

After defining your needs and wants, you just need to sort all your monthly expenses into a need or a want, and add up each category.

Then, you can review monthly to see if your spending percentages were roughly on par with the 50 / 30 / 20 guideline.

It should be mentioned that 50 / 30 /20 is just a starting point. These percentages are not practical for everyone.The nature of needs is that they are must-haves, irrespective of your income.

Say your household’s needs are $40,000 a year. If your take-home household income is $60,000, then your needs make up 66% of your income.

If that take-home income were $100,000, then needs would only make up 40% of your income!

So the percentages are variable depending on your situation.

Also, one other limitation is this method may be great for those with salaried jobs, but it’s not ideal for those with highly variable incomes.

Variable income is typical for self-employed people, commission-based jobs, and hourly jobs where the hours worked fluctuate week to week.

Luckily, there are a few other budgeting methods you can read about below.

2. The 80 / 20 Budgeting Method

The 80/20 budgeting method is an even easier version of the 50/30/20 method.

If you don’t want to make the effort to discern between wants and needs, you can just lump them into one.

In this budgeting method, 80% goes to your wants and needs, and 20% goes to investing and/or debt repayment. That’s really all there is to it!

This budgeting method runs on a “pay yourself first” mentality. First, you should invest the 20% (or use it to pay off debt faster), and then you are free to spend the rest on your wants and needs.

This simple budgeting method is great for people who want to improve their sense of financial accountability.

Following this method will give you an impressive 20% savings rate on your income!

However, it should be noted that those who feel they are stuck living paycheck-to-paycheck would not benefit from this budget.

You’ll need to use a method that discerns between wants and needs, allowing you to see where costs can be trimmed.

3. The 60% Solution Budgeting Method

The next budgeting method is the 60% Solution.

The 60% Solution was first referenced in an article written by MSN Money editor-in-chief Richard Jenkins. This budget has five categories for your GROSS income (ie. pre-tax) outlined below:

• 60% to “commited” expenses
• 10% to retirement savings
• 10% to long-term savings
• 10% to short term savings
• 10% for “fun money”

This budgeting method effectively suggests you can live off 60% of your gross income. According to the original article,

“I determined that we needed to keep our committed expenses at or below 60% of our gross income to come out ahead at the end of the month.

Committed expenses:

* Basic food and clothing needs.
* Essential household expenses.
* Insurance premiums.
* Charitable contributions.
* All of our bills — even such non-essentials as our satellite TV service.
* ALL of our taxes”

This budgeting method really simplifies expense tracking since all your “committed” costs are lumped into one category.

However, it carries the same challenges as the 50 / 30 /20 method since 60% may not work for your household.

I suggest starting with 60%, and changing it by +/- 5% depending on how easy or difficult it is.

For the other buckets, here are some examples of what they could involve:

• The 10% retirement savings would be akin to an IRA or 401(k).
• The long-term savings could be a goal such as saving up for a new vehicle or home down payment.
• Short-term savings could be contributions to your emergency fund, or some purchase you are making in the next 12 months.
• Fun money is self-explanatory!

This 5 category budgeting method is great for those who want to itemize their spending a little more, without evolving into a full-grown line item budget.

4. The Cash Envelope Budgeting Method

The cash envelope budgeting method is the oldest form of budgeting out there.

In fact, the word budget originated from the Old French word for purse.

While the cash envelope method requires the most effort out of any method on this list, it is still relatively simple.

The cash envelope budgeting method requires you to go old school by using nothing but cash for all your purchases.

You need to create a few spending categories and make an envelope for each one. At the beginning of each month, you then put a predetermined amount of cash in it, which makes it impossible to overspend.

Here are some common categories:

• Vehicle expenses
• Groceries
• Entertainment
• Clothing
• Childcare

This method is just great for people who struggle with impulse spending, or people who prefer visual organization.

As mentioned before, it is impossible to overspend if you follow the method correctly. This budgeting method helps build discipline for those who need it when it comes to discretionary spending.

There are some negatives with the cash envelope method however.

First off, not using any plastic means you may be forgoing credit card rewards (assuming you’d pay your balance in full and on time).

Secondly, carrying wads of cash in today’s day and age is slightly impractical and potentially unsafe.

Finally, the amount of effort required is far greater than other budgeting methods in terms of tracking expenses. There are no monthly statements prepared for you when using cash!

5. No Budget Method

The last budgeting method may shock you, but the best budget may be no budget at all! This may sound silly, but hear me out.

Of course, from a solely financial perspective, there is no valid reason not to have a budget.

However, personal finance is more than just numbers.

Psychology plays a huge role.

Many people dislike budgeting due to the scarcity mindset it may force on you. Granted, this mindset may be necessary if you’re paycheck-to-paycheck and trying to get out of that cycle.

But, is it really sustainable?

With the No Budget budgeting method, all you really need to keep an eye on is your savings rate. You can improve your savings rate greatly by reducing big expenses.

Of course, the higher savings rate, the better.

The concept of savings rate is actually incorporated in the other simple budgeting methods mentioned.

For example, if you have no budget and have a 20% savings rate, you’re actually inadvertently following the 80 / 20 budget.

This idea is great for those who aren’t in any deep financial trouble but still want to improve their financial situation.

Simply monitor your savings rate; as long as you are happy with the number, there is no reason to track more in-depth!

Which Budgeting Method is Right for You?

At this point, you are probably wondering, “which budgeting method is best and right for me?”

The best one is likely the one that resonated the most with you when reading the above.

Objectively speaking, some methods are more effective than others, but you should remember that this is not solely an objective matter.

The budgeting method has to be one that YOU think will work for yourself.

A budget is useless if you don’t think it’s a method you can reasonably follow.

If you can’t pick a budgeting method today, then to start improving your financial situation, I’d recommend to start tracking your expenses today. Don’t wait until the first of next month to act.

Look at your daily spending for a couple weeks, you can see where you’re at. With these measurements, you can figure out roughly how your budget is going to work starting next month.

If you are aspiring to join the ranks of highly esteemed professionals in the banking sector, cracking competitive exams is the first step towards achieving your dream. Among the most popular and sought-after exams in this domain is the IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) exam. The IBPS calendar, also known as the schedule or timetable, plays a crucial role in your exam preparation journey. This blog will guide you through the process of navigating the exam calendar for competitive exams, helping you stay on track and maximize your chances of success.

Understanding the Significance of the Exam Calendar

The exam calendar serves as a roadmap for your exam preparation. It provides important information about the dates, timings, and deadlines for various stages of the examination. By carefully analyzing the exam calendar, you can plan your study schedule, allocate time for each section, and set realistic targets. This proactive approach will help you stay organised, focused, and confident throughout your preparation.

Decoding the Exam Calendar

There are a number of tips you need to understand to decode the exam calendar.

Stay Updated with the Latest Information

To crack competitive exams, it is crucial to stay updated with the latest exam-related information. Keep an eye on official notifications, websites, and reliable sources for any updates or changes in the exam calendar. By staying informed, you can avoid missing out on important dates and ensure that you are well-prepared for each examination stage.

Identify Exam Phases and Their Deadlines

Competitive exams like the IBPS are conducted in multiple phases, including preliminary exams, main exams, interviews, and document verification. Each phase has its own set of deadlines and requirements. Take the time to carefully review the exam calendar and identify the dates and deadlines for each phase. This will enable you to plan your preparation strategy accordingly, allocating more time to the sections that require additional focus.

Create a Study Schedule

Once you have a clear understanding of the exam phases and their deadlines, create a study schedule that suits your learning style and preferences. Divide your study time based on the weightage of each section and the time available before each phase. Be realistic while setting daily or weekly study targets, ensuring enough time for revision and practice tests. Remember to include breaks in your schedule to avoid burnout and maintain a healthy balance.

Prioritize Revision and Practice

Revision and practice are key to mastering any competitive exam. Allocate sufficient time in your study schedule for revising the topics you have learned. Regularly solve practice questions and mock tests to assess your progress and identify improvement areas. Incorporating revision and practice into your routine will reinforce your understanding, boost your confidence, and develop a solid exam strategy.

Seek Guidance and Support

Preparing for competitive exams can be challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. Seek guidance from experienced mentors, join coaching institutes, or participate in online study groups. Engaging in discussions, clarifying doubts, and sharing study resources can provide valuable insights and enhance your preparation. Remember, the journey becomes easier when you have a support system.

Conclusion

Navigating the exam calendar for competitive exams, such as the IBPS, is essential to your preparation journey. By understanding the significance of the IBPS calendar or any other exam calendar, decoding its contents, and creating a well-structured study plan, you can stay on track and increase your chances of success. Remember to stay updated, create a study schedule, prioritise revision and practice, and seek guidance when needed. 

Are you looking to buy a house for the first time? Saving money to buy a house can be a challenge, but with the right strategy, you can successfully save up for that down payment on your dream house.

Saving up to buy a house is an amazing accomplishment – but it’s not without its challenges.

First, you need to find the right property.  Then, you need to save for a down payment.  After that, you get to deal with banks, lenders, mortgage brokers, etc.

It’s a lot to handle if you’re buying a house for the first time.

But being a first-time home buyer doesn’t have to be scary – as long as you approach it with a thoughtful and critical eye.

Three Steps to Take When Saving Up to Buy a House

For the purpose of this article, there are 3 steps I want to focus on as you look to save up for a down payment on a house:

1. Do Your Research
2. Be Aware of All Costs
3. Take Advantage of Programs

Then, after discussing these three steps, I’ll share with you some quick hitting saving money tips to help you increase your savings.

Let’s dive into each of these three pieces of information.

1. Do Your Research

The first step to take before you even decide to save for a new home is figuring out how much home you can afford.

There are a number of ways to do this:

• Getting an estimate from a bank or credit union
• Doing the math yourself
• Using an online calculator

While mortgage lenders are all too willing to help you figure this out, keep in mind that what you want and what you can afford are two very different things.

Mortgage lenders generally have no qualms with getting people to sign up for more house than they need.

Likewise, what you need compared to what you can afford also needs to be taken into consideration. If you’re planning on starting a family soon, you won’t want to buy a tiny 1-bedroom house.

To help figure out just how much home you can afford, you’ll want to know:

• have a clear idea of your income
• the cash you have on hand,
• your recurring expenses and
• your credit profile

You should be familiar with these as a lender is going to ask for this information, and it’s directly relevant to getting a home.

You can also use the 36% rule to determine how much home you can afford.

The 36% rule states that, on average, you should aim to spend no more than 36% of your gross income on your mortgage expense and debt payments.

For example, if you gross $3,600 a month and have recurring student loan debts of $500 a month, you’ll want to spend no more than $796 per month on your mortgage.

$3,600 X 0.36 = $1,296.00 – $500 recurring debt = $796

You can use this handy calculator from Nerd Wallet to estimate it for you.

The thing to keep in mind most is that you know your financial situation best – don’t let anyone pressure you into something that doesn’t feel right.

An Example of Research for a Home

When saving up for your first-time home purchase, conducting thorough research is an essential step in ensuring you make an informed decision.

To illustrate, imagine you’re captivated by the idea of owning a beachside property. New homes at the Delaware beaches can serve as a prime example of what you might consider. Start your research by exploring the various neighborhoods and communities along the coast.

Dive into the specifics of these newly constructed properties, examining factors such as amenities, proximity to schools and essential services, and the overall lifestyle they offer.

Additionally, dive into market trends and property values in this region to gain a broader perspective. This comprehensive research not only provides insights into the captivating potential of owning a beachfront property but also equips you with the knowledge needed to make sound financial choices.

2. Be Aware of All Costs

Next, it’s important to be aware of all costs associated with buying a home.

While saving up for a down-payment is great, did you know there are many other property and loan related fees associated with buying a home that are not recoverable?

These property and loan related fees are called closing costs.

Closing costs are fees paid (usually by the purchaser) to finalize the sale of the home. Some of these fees are rolled into the mortgage, while others are paid before the house is purchased.

Typically, you can expect to pay between 2% to 5% of the mortgage loan amount on closing fees.

If you’ve never bought a home or haven’t heard of closing costs, these additional expenses can throw you for a loop.

Some common examples of closing costs include:

• Appraisal fees
• Home inspection fees
• Application fees
• Loan origination fees
• Escrow fees
• Document preparation fees
• Title search fees
• and more!

These fees add up, and many of them are one-time fees that don’t build equity – meaning they don’t go into the value of the home.

For someone purchasing a $100,000 home and putting 20% down and paying a 4% interest rate and using a mortgage broker, it’s estimated you would pay over $5,000 in closing costs!  That’s a hefty chunk of money.

When you’re saving up to purchase a house, it’s essential you take all of these closing costs and fees into consideration in your budget and savings goal.

You don’t want to get caught with your pants down if you fail to factor in one (or multiple) costs.

Here’s a calculator from NerdWallet that can estimate closing costs for you.

3. Take Advantage of Programs for First Time Home Buyers

There are a number of programs that FTHBs can use to their advantage when purchasing a home.

This is one of the best ways you can save money if you’re buying a home for the first time.

Many of these programs offer exclusive advantages, such as greatly reduced interest rates; grants given to help with closing costs and down payments. Others help vulnerable populations like veterans and native Americans in securing funding for purchase.

No matter your situation, if you’re a FTHB, there’s likely a program that can help.

Some examples of programs offered to first time home buyers include:

• HUD first time buyers program
• FHA loans
• USDA loans
• VA loans
• and more!

Depending on where you live, you may have different offers in your area.

Here is a list of some of the federal programs that help first time home buyers by state.

Check out the list – you may qualify!

How to Practically Save a Down Payment for a House

Once you know what you can afford to spend on a home, you’ll want to start saving for a down payment.

The easiest way to save for a down payment is to decide how much you’d like to put down, then divide that number by the amount of months you have until you plan on buying.

For example, if you can afford a $100,000 house, want to put 20% down, and you plan on buying in one year, you’ll need to save $1,666.66 a month.

$100,000 X .20 = $20,000 down payment / 12 (months in one year) = $1,666.66

Depending on how much house you can afford, how long you have to save and your income and expenses, this number may be easily doable or very difficult.

Something else to keep in mind is that the more you put down on a house, the lower your mortgage payments will be.

This is where using a home loan calculator can be incredibly helpful. It allows you to experiment with different down payment amounts to see how they impact your future mortgage payments, helping you to better plan your savings and understand the true cost of your mortgage.

You can also avoid having to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) if you put at least 20% down on your home. PMI is added to your mortgage payment whenever you put less than 20% down. It’s used to protect the lender against a loss in case the borrower defaults.

9 Tips on Saving Money for a Down Payment

Here are some tips on how to save some additional money you can put down towards a house.

• Set a target amount and stick to it.  Just because you can afford something bigger and nicer doesn’t mean you have to do so.
• Cut any unnecessary costs. Go through your credit card statement, bank statements, etc. looking for services you don’t use, or don’t care about and cancel them.
• Pick up extra shifts or overtime at work, or get a second job one day a week.
• Take on simple side gigs, like dog-walking, cat-sitting or babysitting.
• Store your savings in a separate account to keep you from spending it on something frivolous or expensive.
• Automate the savings process.  Now that you’ve calculated the amount you need to save per month, you could have that automatically transferred to your savings account the day you get paid. You won’t miss money you never had.
• Save any unexpected money. Whether it’s your tax return or Christmas money from your grandma, put any additional money you get into savings to reach that goal faster.
• Cut back on spending. You can go generic, as that’s a great way to save money without changing your shopping habits.
• Have an extra room in your home?  Throw it up on AirBnB.  If you live near a music or sports venue, you could even rent out your driveway as a parking space on events days.
• Declutter and sell your goods on eBay, or have a yard sale.

With all of these tips, I’m sure there’s something in there for you to utilize to help save more money!

Making Saving up for a Home Stress-Free with these Tips

Buying a home can be a big expense and stress, but depending on your own circumstances, it can be a good investment.  If you’re a first time home buyer, you can make the experience much more pleasurable by doing a little work beforehand.

By researching how much home you can afford, saving money for a down payment, and taking advantage of offers for first time home buyers, you’re far more likely to make it a pleasant experience.

Purchasing a home is one of the major financial decisions you will make in your life – don’t take it too lightly! Best of luck!

Accounting has always been a crucial function for businesses of all sizes. Over time though, since digital technologies have become more prevalent, various business operations have transformed significantly, especially traditional accounting. 

As a business owner or accounting executive, you need to focus on a number of things, especially if your company is small and you want it to expand and become sustainable. One of the most important items on the list is overhauling the accounting division by maintaining accounts and implementing relevant control as well as compliance mechanisms.

Currently, 69% of owners of small businesses prefer to manage their accounting or bookkeeping. Although there are numerous tools and software to help with the procedure, the job can still be difficult. In reality, 21% of small and medium-sized business owners admit they lack sufficient understanding in this area. 

Nevertheless, there is optimism in sight. Here are some pointers for business owners on how to improve, and maintain operations, particularly through the use of modern technologies:

Strengthen your basics

If you are a part of the cohort of business owners that prefer to handle their own accounting but don’t know much about it, the best place to start is your professional development. Thanks to digital education, business owners can easily enroll in online MBA accounting courses or a host of others that offer comprehensive, relevant knowledge as well as skills in this domain. 

Of course, you have the choice to outsource the work to professionals, but even then, you need to be in a position to not just offer some oversight but also review the books once they return from the external auditors. Even when your business has a full-fledged accounting department, you’ll need to keep a check on them, and an accounting degree helps a lot in this matter. 

Plan on integrating relevant digital tools

Digital technologies make it simpler to manage many conventional practices. Software has improved in-depth analysis techniques and accuracy over the last few years thanks to the wide availability of raw data, analytical tools, and cutting-edge AI. These technologies are also relevant to accounting departments in modern companies and their day-to-day practices. 

Software streamlines numerous aspects of bookkeeping for your company, from balancing your books to giving you insights into optimization and effective resource allocation. You can reduce your workload in half with the aid of reliable software while easing your company’s use of future-proof business methods.

Ensure strictness about cutoff policies and reconciliations

Most businesses and their relevant accounting departments put off the task of reconciling accounts receivable and payables against other financial statements until the end of the fiscal year. This habit is nothing but a recipe for chaos since going back to each transaction, especially those that happened at the beginning of the year, can be a real hassle. 

This is why it is important to have the accounting department and the team perform reconciliations throughout the year, ideally at the end of the month or even every week. Also, there need to be certain stringent rules in place that drive accounting processes effectively. These include guidelines and cutoffs for transactions like reimbursements and invoices etc. You must ensure that these rules are followed religiously. 

Have a routine in place

A detailed schedule for when to complete bookkeeping duties could create consistency and a fluid, streamlined flow. Business owners and accounting professionals are usually so overburdened with management responsibilities and other obligations that they may forget that their books need to be updated frequently. 

Numerous inconsistencies could result from this, impeding future development and efficient operating flow. You can remain on top of your finances and strive to make the most appropriate choices for the long-term viability of your company’s affairs by developing a schedule and then adhering to it stringently because, at the end of the day, the efficiency of your accounting department matters a lot for the company.

Routinely review all accounts

It’s essential as well as necessary to examine and scrutinize your financial information in addition to following a routine. Your company is your baby, and you have been growing it from scratch, irrespective of whether it is a new venture or even an established business. You can examine your current assets, liabilities, payables, and receivables with the use of bookkeeping. 

This gives you a financial picture of your current situation and your chances for the future. Regular bookkeeping doesn’t just help you streamline your operations, but it also helps you understand accounting principles and, over time, become more adept at them. Setting such a routine also allows the accounting department to streamline its operations. 

Delegate efficiently

Whether they are handled by the accounting team or an external firm, a few crucial jobs can be separated to make the process more effective and speedy. For instance, you may require the manager to handle their own streamlined accounting for transactions and gathering receipts to improve inventory management. 

You can also request the management of any financial concerns that other department heads oversee for the sake of their divisions. Not only will you reduce your workload via delegation, but you’ll also give the company a far stronger base for expansion. At the same time, the accounting department becomes more productive and efficient too. 

Develop a plan for transaction processing

There usually is a lot going on, regardless of whether or not a business is already established or is just getting started. Things are made easier by developing a coordinated plan for the transactional and accounting procedure. There are many considerations to make, even when discussing bookkeeping alone. 

It can be difficult to compile receipts and coordinate with suppliers, vendors, and other players to obtain the most recent financial information. Keeping track of inventory is another enormous chore if your company sells products. Without a comprehensive strategy, you can run into problems that irritate and exhaust you much more quickly than usual.

Conclusion

Given that majority of small businesses fail because of bad financial planning, letting ineffective accounting practices slide is a no-ho if you want your business to thrive. Therefore, whether you conduct the bookkeeping yourself or take steps to instill greater efficiency in your existing team, you must exercise extreme caution.

Investors have long recognized the efficacy of including precious metals in their wealth-building endeavors. These exceptional assets, encompassing gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, possess intrinsic value and boast a remarkable historical record of safeguarding purchasing power. But what are the fundamental principles and strategies that enable investors to maximize returns through precious metal investments? This in-depth article will illuminate the path to success.

Decoding the Precious Metal Market

Before delving into the intricacies of investing in precious metallic objects, it is paramount to attain a profound comprehension of market dynamics. The precious metal market is subject to various influences, including supply and demand dynamics, geopolitical events, economic indicators, and investor sentiment.

Supply and Demand Dynamics: A Vital Role

The value of precious metals is substantially shaped by their availability. The supply side, encompassing mining output, recycling rates, and exploration activities, wields a substantial impact on the overall availability of these metals. Conversely, demand factors, including industrial applications, jewelry fabrication, and investment demand, collectively contribute to the overall desire for precious metals.

Geopolitical and Economic Influences

Geopolitical events and economic indicators can sway the precious metal market. Economic uncertainties, inflationary pressures, and currency fluctuations often drive investors toward the perceived safe-haven attributes of precious metallic objects. Moreover, geopolitical tensions and political instability can further augment the allure of these unique assets.

Strategies to Maximize Returns

Here are the key investment strategies that empower investors to optimize returns.

1. Diversification and Asset Allocation

One of the fundamental tenets of investing in precious metals revolves around diversification. You can mitigate overall risk exposure by allocating some part of your investment portfolio to precious metals. Historically, precious metallic objects have exhibited a low correlation with assets such as stocks and bonds, making them an efficacious diversification tool.

2. A Long-Term Outlook

Precious metals investment necessitates adopting a long-term perspective. These assets have exemplified their capacity to preserve wealth over time, particularly during economic uncertainty. By maintaining a patient and forward-looking approach, investors can weather short-term price fluctuations and potentially reap the benefits of precious metals’ appreciation over the years.

3. Ownership of Physical Bullion

Investors seeking direct exposure to precious metallic objects often opt for physical bullion, encompassing gold bars or coins. Physical ownership imparts tangible assets that can be securely stored, granting investors complete control over their investments. When acquiring physical bullion, it is crucial to consider factors such as storage costs, authenticity verification, and liquidity.

4. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

For investors seeking convenience and flexibility, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer an enticing avenue. Precious metal ETFs are meticulously designed to mirror the performance of the underlying metal, providing investors with exposure to price movements sans the necessity for physical ownership. ETFs offer ease of trading, transparency, and the ability to invest small amounts.

5. Mining Stocks and Mutual Funds

Investors desiring potential capital appreciation and exposure to the precious metals industry may consider investing in mining stocks or mutual funds. These investment vehicles indirectly expose investors to the performance of precious metallic objects by investing in companies involved in exploration, extraction, and production. Conducting thorough research and due diligence is pivotal in identifying well-managed companies with substantial growth potential.

Investing in expensive metals can be a lucrative strategy for optimizing returns and diversifying investment portfolios. By understanding the precious metal market dynamics, adopting a comprehensive long-term perspective, and implementing effective investment strategies, investors can harness the potential of these exceptional assets.

Are you looking to learn how to live life intentionally? Do you want to take action, reach your goals, and find success in your life? In this post, you’ll learn how to live life intentionally, learn how to think proactively, and read about a 5 step plan for success in life.

Are you in control of your life, or are you just letting life pass you by? Are you living intentionally, or living unintentionally? Does life happen for you, or does life happen to you?

One of the most effective ways to take control of your life is through intentional living and proactive behavior.

I try to practice proactive behavior in all parts of my life – trying to play catch up is stressful and takes away from getting after my goals and dreams.

Instead of reacting to situations, I prefer to wake up and try to do what I want to do with my life.

By proactively thinking about what to do next, I can make a plan for my life and then take action towards my goals.

Doesn’t it feel good to set your own schedule and do what matters to you, instead of following someone else’s schedule and dreams?

Luckily, becoming more intentional and forward thinking in your behavior and actions isn’t too difficult.

In this post, I will share some tips on how you can take control of your life through intentional actions, how you can live life intentionally, and how to use proactive thinking to make smart decisions.

First, let’s talk about intentional living.

“You have complete control over the direction that the rest of your life takes.” – Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge

What is Intentional Living and Why is Living Intentionally Important?

Before talking about proactive behavior, let’s talk about intentional living.

What is intentional living?

Intentional living is living your life in a way you have consciously decided to live it.

Living intentionally involves coming up with dreams, goals and a plan, and living out that plan. In addition, these plans and goals are usually informed by your values and beliefs.

Put simply, intentional living is living the kind of life that is meaningful to you, and makes you feel like every day matters.

Unintentional living is the opposite of intentional living.

Unintentional living is going through life without a plan, letting life happen to you, and not taking control of your situation.

Days, weeks and months can pass by if you don’t live intentionally, and this is where proactive behavior comes in.

What is the Difference between Proactive and Reactive Behavior?

What is proactive behavior?

Proactive behavior involves acting in advance of a future situation, rather than just reacting. It means taking control and making things happen rather than just adjusting to a situation or waiting for something to happen.

Proactive people generally do not need to be asked to act, nor do they require detailed instructions. Proactive people practice intentional living.

Reactive behavior involves acting after an event occurs, rather than acting in advance of the event. It means waiting for something to happen, rather than making something happen.

Why are some people reactive in their behavior? What would happen if they changed started practicing proactive behaviors? Would they take control of their life and achieve wild success?

“Your philosophy creates your attitudes, which create your actions, which create your results, which create your life.” – Jeff Olson

People who are successful in life are proactive and make things happen.

Proactive behavior helps you take control of your life by making intentional choices about what you want your life to look like, and following through with your behavior to make that life vision a reality.

Not only does this lead to a positive end result, but it encourages personal growth along the way as you navigate and problem-solve.

What are Some Examples of Proactive Thinking and Behavior?

Now that you know what proactive thinking and proactive behavior is, now let’s talk about some examples of proactive thinking.

Proactive behavior is all about living life intentionally and with purpose.

One part of life which is very important to be proactive in is your personal finances.

Part of living life to the fullest is having a handle on your personal finances.

Only 39% of people have $1,000 saved up in the United States. With $1,000 or more in the bank, the stress of an immediate emergency decreases.

This $1,000 can be saved with planning ahead and taking control of your financial life.

A Stressful Time Caused by Reactive Behavior

A few years ago, I was house hacking and had 2 roommates.

One of them was a great guy but was very reactive in his nature. He is someone who loves to get out in the world and do things with his time and money.

Being a part of a few different sports teams and going out on the weekends, I didn’t know the exact nature of his finances, but given his struggles to pay me on time for monthly rent, I could tell he was paycheck to paycheck.

At the time, he had a decent job, and from a simple Google search, was probably in the $40,000 salary range.

With this sort of salary, I would have hoped with a $700 monthly rent payment, he could not be living paycheck to paycheck, but after some bad luck, it was a certainty.

During the Spring, playing kickball, he ended up breaking his hand and with this must have came a significant hospital bill.

“I’ll pay you the 10th after I get paid.”

I wasn’t going to kick him out for being late, but I had a lot of thoughts on the situation.

Saving Money is Possible Through Intentional Actions and Proactive Behavior

Make no mistake, bad luck happens to the best of us.

At the same time, with planning and proactive behavior, what if he had $1,000 saved up to help deal some of his expenses?

As a single and employed Millennial, saving $83 a month for 12 months is certainly doable to get to $1,000.

Double that saving from $83 to $166, and in 12 months, you are approaching $2,000 in savings.

This is just one example of how proactive behavior and intentional living will lead to success.

Let’s think a little bigger now, talk about questions and your dream life, and discuss about how you can apply the practice of proactive behavior in your life for success.

“Try not to become a person of success, but a person of value.” – Albert Einstein

Two Questions to Answer for Creating a Great Life

First, a principle: without questions, there are no answers.

Figuring out your dream life or my dream life can’t be solved without breaking it down into smaller questions which get at the core of who you are, how you enjoy your time, and what you like to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

I believe there are two question sets which will get you started towards creating your dream life. The first part of the two sets of questions is:

When are you most happiest and what are you doing when you are experiencing this joy?

This is a simple question. When do you feel happiest? What activity or thing are you doing which brings the happiness?

For me, happiness comes from creation and helping others. I love creating content, building things, and solving problems. If life was a huge puzzle, I’d love it (which it kind of is, but the pieces are constantly changing 🙂 )

Happiness also comes from doing things on my own terms and having the freedom to create what I want when I want.

The second part of this set of questions is:

How often are you able to do these activities, and what’s holding you back from experiencing them whenever you’d like?

If you are already doing what makes you happy all the time (from the first question), then the second question doesn’t really make sense.

In my opinion, life is all about pushing towards doing what makes you happiest and understanding that while today might not be where you want to be, over time you can get there.

In my situation, I don’t have the level of savings and/or passive income to be helping others and creating what I want, when I want.

At this point in my life, I go to a corporate job at 8 AM and leave after 5 PM. While I’m making great money, there’s still an entrepreneurial itch which is always in the back of my head.

Currently, I’m working on building up my savings with the intent to move to something more flexible in the next year or two. We will see, but it’s a work in progress and that’s okay.

Things can change and I’m going to stay patient. I can influence this through my actions, but whatever happens is meant to happen and should be accepted.

Over time, I’ll get to where I want and need to be, and I hope you will as well.

Now that you have these thoughts in your head, below are 5 concrete steps for you to take control of your life and live intentionally.

5 Steps to Take Control of Your Life and Become Great

When beginning to think ahead about your life, your family, your job, your business, etc., we first need to start with questions and goals.

First, let’s identify what you want with your life.

We both only have one life and limited time. In my life, I want to be doing things I enjoy and that are bringing joy to the people around me.

After understanding your goals and dreams, then it’s time to come up with a game plan, and take bold action.

With this plan, you will be living life intentionally and proactively. Through your proactive behavior, you’ll be on the way to reaching your goals.

Here are 5 steps for intentional living taking control of your life through proactive behavior, and creating a great life for yourself this year:

1. Identify Your Goals and Dreams

What are your goals? What makes you happiest? Where do you want to be in 1 year?

As we discussed in the last section, there is a lot that goes into answering these difficult questions.

However, with a picture of what you want, you can start to work towards your dream life and ideal situation.

Split your goals, thoughts, and dreams into multiple buckets:

• social
• financial
• spiritual
• physical
• emotional
• work
• fun

Some example questions for you may be:

• Do you want to get a promotion or change in responsibilities at work?
• Would you want more money in the bank?
• Are you looking to retire earlier than 65?
• Would you be happy if your business made an extra $1,000 a month?
• Do you want to be able to take more vacations with your family?
• Are you looking to start a new hobby?
• What things stress you out?
• Do you want to lose 10 pounds?

After asking yourself these questions, KEEP GOING! Let your powerful brain do some more work!

After getting some answers to the questions which matter to your situation, now it’s time to work backwards.

You are trying to create a great life for yourself and these questions will help you form a more concrete image of that life for before you create your action plan for success.

2. Create a Happiness Game Plan

You know your goals, now it’s time to come up with a game plan.

You have your dream. What do you have to do to MAKE it happen?

Let’s take the example of losing 10 pounds.

If you want to lose 10 pounds, it’s time for more questions. Let’s see how this line of thinking plays out:

• How is a person’s weight determined?
  • A person’s weight is determined through a number of factors, but changes come from daily habits and a simple equation: calories in minus calories out.
• If weight changes come from calories in minus calories out, then how do I decrease this amount for myself?
  • First, what does this equation look like for you today? What gets measured, gets managed!
• After measuring where you are at on a daily basis, are you in a calorie surplus or calorie deficit?
  • To lose weight, how can you decrease the surplus and increase this deficit in a healthy way? (exercise, diet, fasting, etc.)

After you’ve asked and answered these questions for yourself (and there are probably 3+ more levels to go if you want to go that deep), again KEEP GOING!

Let your powerful brain and body work towards your goals and dreams!

After coming up with your game plan for success and happiness, it’s now time to take ACTION.

3. Be Intentional in Life and Take Action

It’s great to know what you have to do, but if you never take action, you will never achieve your goals and dreams.

Intentional living is all about taking action and working on bettering your life situation.

Sitting on the couch and watching Netflix is fun and relaxing, but it probably won’t lead to a very fulfilling life.

Taking action involves getting out and into the world.

Start today with your actions and live intentionally. You’ll be pleased as you start to see your dream life come to fruition.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao-Tzu

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. Be Consistent With Your Actions

Humans overestimate what they can do in a day, but underestimate what they can do in a year.

Have you ever started on your goals only to stop? Did you end up reaching your goal?

Each day, if you can spend at least 10 minutes working towards your goals, you’ll be amazed at your progress.

At the end of one year, you will have spent 3650 minutes, or 60 hours. 

60 hours over a year? How much closer to your goals would you be after 60 hours?

That’s the power of consistency. Consistent actions over time WILL lead to massive success.

5. Reassessing and Tweaking Your Game Plan Over Time

From time to time, you will need to see if you are still on track.

I stay accountable to myself monthly. You can do a personal check-in weekly, monthly, or every few months. It’s up to you.

If you aren’t on track, make the necessary changes to your actions and daily habits to ensure you are working towards your goals.

It’s okay if you realize you aren’t on track; this doesn’t mean you failed.

All this setback means is you now have the opportunity to pick back up where you left off and keep getting better!

Just because you eat one unhealthy meal doesn’t mean your whole healthy eating plan is ruined. It just means you ate one unhealthy meal. You can always continue eating healthy for your next meal, and it will in fact be beneficial.

This outlook works for every part of life.

Being self aware on your path to the life you want and deserve will help tremendously.

Living an intentional life requires patience and understanding, and also will require some flexibility.

The life you want won’t happen in a day, but over time, through tweaks and consistency, you’ll get there. 🙂

Welcome Success by Becoming Proactive and Living Intentionally

You have the keys to your life. It is up to you to unlock your full potential and lead a great life. Through proactive behavior, you can take control of your life and create the success you crave.

Planning, strategy, or thinking ahead are examples of proactive behavior, and with these thoughts, you will become more successful than the day before.

Things take time and a level of patience will be required. At the end of the day, through proactive behavior and having a plan, you will be where you are supposed to be in the next few months.

Start with your goals and asking questions. Continue asking questions until you’ve formed a plan for the actions which should set you up for success.

With this post, you now know how to live life intentionally, how to use proactive thinking and proactive behavior to set goals, and how to create a plan for success.

Get after it and make sure to update me on your fantastic progress! 🙂

“Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.” – Hal Elrod

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Save

There are so many different ways to invest. As a beginner, it can be a daunting task to try and figure out what investment accounts make sense. This post is a guide for beginners to help you learn about the different investment accounts for your money.

Getting into investing can be intimidating with all the different options out there. Not only are there different investment choices; there are also many different types of accounts to put money into.

With all these overwhelming choices, how do you know which are the best investment accounts for beginners?

First things first, you need to figure out what your investing goals are. What are you putting away money for?

Secondly, you need to know what options are out there, and what each account is best used for.

Finally, you can put together some simple contribution strategies for making the most out of your investments and reach your goals in the best way possible.

Disclaimer: I’m not a financial adviser or financial professional. Please do your due diligence and research before buying or selling financial securities and assets.

Before investing, what are your investing goals?

You need to determine your goals before you decide which of these investment accounts to prioritize. You also need to tally up the current state of your portfolio if you have any of these accounts already open.

What are you investing for?

Are you investing for retirement? Maybe you’re saving up for that home down payment?  Or, perhaps you just want to build financial wealth in general.

The first piece of advice is to not get tunnel vision.

Odds are, you have more than one goal, and you should be contributing to them all.

The main purpose is to determine which one to prioritize to obtain the maximum financial benefit.

First, take a look at all the investment accounts available to you. Then, we’ll discuss investing strategies.

Types of Investment Accounts

There are two broad categories of accounts. The first is Tax Advantaged Accounts, which are designed to encourage saving for retirement or other goals. The second is Taxable Accounts, which have no restrictions, but unfortunately are fully taxable.

Let’s dive into some more information on each of these different types of investment accounts.

Tax-Advantaged Investment Accounts

As mentioned, these types of accounts were designed to encourage and incentivize saving. They do this by saving you tax payments; either you will pay less taxes in the present, or you will pay less taxes in the future!

Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

The IRA is the simplest investment account of them all.

A Traditional IRA is a retirement account that lets you make tax deductions on the amount you contribute. Effectively, you don’t pay taxes on this money today, you are deferring the tax to the future when you are retired and are (hopefully) paying less in taxes. The money you invest comes from “pre-tax” dollars.

You can choose stocks, bonds, ETFs, index funds, or other assets, in an IRA. The main restriction is that penalties may apply if you withdraw this money before age 59 ½. The one exception is when buying your first home (hopefully by house hacking), where you can withdraw up to $10000 penalty free.

The annual contribution limit as of 2019 is $6000.

Roth IRA

A Roth IRA is nearly the same as a traditional IRA with one notable difference. You pay tax now on income that is contributed to a Roth IRA, but you don’t have to pay tax when you withdraw funds! We call this investing with “post-tax” dollars.

The other main difference is that you can withdraw funds at any time, for any reason. This means you may consider a Roth IRA if you are saving for a long-term goal besides retirement.

The annual contribution limit as of 2019 is $6000. Note this is the same $6000 as the traditional IRA; you cannot contribute more than that amount between these two account types in a given year.

401(k)

A 401(k) is offered through your employer. Your employer is part of a plan that you can contribute your “pre-tax” dollars into. Typically there are limited investment options to choose from in a 401k, most often mutual funds.

Like a Traditional IRA, a 401(k) has penalties if you withdraw from it before age 59 ½, however there is a long list of exceptions to that rule.

Now, why would you want this heavily regulated retirement account over a traditional IRA?

The answer is simple: contribution matching.

Contribution matching is a unique perk for a 401(k). This is when a company matches your 401(k) contributions up until a certain percentage or dollar value.

For example, if your employer offers $0.50 per dollar contributed up to $2000, then a $2000 annual contribution will actually add $3000 to your account. That is an instant 50% return on investment.

This is free money, no exaggeration here! All you need to do is contribute at least enough to get the maximum contribution match possible.

Other employer-sponsored accounts

There are other types of employer-sponsored accounts that are far less common than a 401(k). However, you should still become familiar with them in case they apply to you.

A 403(b) plan is something your employer may offer in lieu of a 401(k), although they are very similar. This plan is common for nonprofit organizations, some public-sector organizations, and religious organizations.

These plans have commonly been associated with expensive annuities, which you should avoid. However, this restriction is long gone and you should have different mutual funds available to you in your 403(b).

The other notable plan, the 457(b) plan is a variation of a 401(k) available to public servants. You contribute pre-tax dollars like you do in a 401(k) and 403(b), and your employer may offer contribution matching. The main advantage is that there is no withdrawal penalty for those under age 59 ½ !

Other Tax-Advantaged Accounts

The above mentioned accounts are the likely investment accounts for beginners. However there are a handful of other tax-advantaged accounts that will be briefly mentioned below:

• Self-Directed IRA – Not recommended for beginners. It is an IRA with virtually no restrictions; you can own real estate, private equity, and more!
• Health Savings Account (HSA) – Contributions to this account are tax deductible; meant for those with high-deductible health insurance.
• 529 College Savings Plan – Used to save for, you guessed it, college! Most typically has a beneficiary (ie. your children). Tax free investment earnings IF the money is being used for college and/or related expenses.

Taxable Investment Accounts

Taxable accounts (sometimes known as brokerage accounts) are the simpler of the bunch. They carry way less restrictions than tax-advantaged accounts, however, sadly you must pay tax on all net investment income.

Cash Account

This is the most simple investment account you can have. No tax advantages, no restrictions!

It is called a cash account because you actually need the cash on hand to purchase a security. Virtually all tax-advantaged accounts are forms of cash accounts.

Borrowing to invest is not allowed inside these types of accounts. However, you can borrow money externally to contribute to these accounts, such as a 401(k) loan.

Opening a cash account may make financial sense once your tax-advantaged account contributions are all maxed out.

Margin Account

Finally, there are margin accounts. Let me start off by saying margin trading is risky and NOT for beginner investors!

Margin accounts allow you to borrow money from the broker to make trades. This allows you to put leverage into play, similar to real estate. However, given the high cost of borrowing (compared to a mortgage) you have to earn a significant amount of money for this to be worth it.

Which Investment Accounts Should I Use?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. After all, personal finance is personal! Also, there is no one “best” account, but there is an ideal combination of accounts out there for you.

There are some rules of thumb that can help you figure out which investments and investment accounts to focus on first.

Max out your employer’s 401(k) contribution matching

As I mentioned earlier, this is literally free money! You should at least contribute enough of your pre-tax dollars to get the maximum contribution match that your employer will give you.

Remember, even if you don’t like what your employer’s 401(k) plan offers in terms of investments, it is still worth it to contribute and earn that employer match. You can always roll over your account to a more flexible IRA at one point in the future!

Build up your IRA and/or Roth IRA

The one you choose to prioritize depends on your preferences and goals. Here is some food for thought:

• The tax deferral of a Traditional IRA is ideal if you anticipate you’ll have lower taxable income in retirement than you currently do today.
• Investing your after-tax dollars in a Roth IRA is ideal if you anticipate you’ll have higher taxable income in retirement.
• A Roth IRA allows you to withdraw up to the total amount you’ve contributed at any time.
• A Roth IRA doesn’t force you to make withdrawals at age 70 ½ like the other accounts do (if you’re even thinking that far ahead!)

I really like this calculator from Bankrate.com that allows you to compare which type of IRA may be better for your situation.

Maxed Out? Make use of brokerage accounts

Investing doesn’t need to stop once you max out your 401(k) and/or IRA contributions. A brokerage account allows you to contribute an unlimited amount of money!

One downside of brokerage accounts is taxes, but thankfully both capital gains and dividend income are taxed lower than regular income if you do it right.

Here are a couple common strategies to minimize your taxes owed:

• Try to hold stocks for a minimum of 1 year to avoid paying higher capital gains tax.
• Try to keep interest income (ie. bonds) in your tax-advantaged accounts, since they are taxed at the normal rate for income. **
• Consider selling losing investments to offset your capital gains for that calendar year

** Note: Corporate bonds are typically fully taxable. Government bonds may be different; for example, interest from municipal bonds is often non-taxable. This is why you should consider consulting a financial professional to help lower your tax bill.

Start Investing Today and Build Wealth for the Future

Having an optimal strategy for your investment accounts can be a game changer, especially if you start young.

While everyone’s situation is unique, one likely common aspect is an employer’s 401(k) contribution matching. You need to take full advantage of 401(k) contribution matching. I cannot stress this enough!

From there, you need to create your own answer to the Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA dilemma, based on what works for you. Personal finance is personal!

The fun doesn’t stop once you have all your tax-advantaged accounts maxed out; you can continue to invest through plain old brokerage accounts. Keep in mind some of the basic strategies mentioned above to reduce your tax bill.

Finally, you should consider hiring a financial professional down the road! The wealthier you become, the more complex your tax situation may get. A good accountant or CFP (Certified Financial Planner) will save you more money over the years than what it cost you to hire them.

When starting to invest, there is so much to learn and know about investing, finance, and money. In this post, you can learn about what beginners should know about investing and how you can start investing for your financial future.

When you’re new to the world of investing, it is easy to get overwhelmed.

There are so many things to consider: what to invest in, how much you should invest, whether you should do it monthly or a few times a year, and more.

Sometimes, when you’re just starting to learn about a new subject, you can get so overwhelmed that it keeps us from doing anything at all.

However, learning how to invest and grow wealth over time is achievable.

In this post, you’ll learn about what investing is, learn about the concept of compounding, and understand why the financial markets make sense for many investors.

If you’re a first time investor, this post will be a great resource for introducing you to what you need to know about investing!

Disclaimer: I’m not a financial adviser or financial professional. Please do your due diligence and research before buying or selling financial securities and assets.

What Is Investing?

Investing is the act of “expending money with the expectation of achieving a profit or material result by putting it into financial schemes, shares, or property, or by using it to develop a commercial venture.”

Essentially, investing is the purchase of something of value with the intention and expectation of the value of this something bringing increased value in the future.

By investing, you are looking to put your money to work for you.

Investing is one of the key steps to becoming the master of your money.

There are a number of different products and assets you can invest in:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual Funds
• ETFs
• Index Funds
• Real Estate
• Businesses
• Cryptocurrencies
• Precious Metals

This post is will be mostly concerned with investing in the equity and fixed income markets, I won’t be talking about investing in real estate, businesses or alternative assets.

Let’s go into more details about these different investments.

What are Stocks?

Stocks, also called equities, are one of the most well-known investing options out there.

Stocks are securities, typically issued in quantities known as shares, that give shareholders part ownership in the company.

There are two main ways investing in stocks pay us:

• capital gains (you make money when you sell an asset which has gone up in value)
• dividends (a cash payment given to investors by the company)

Throughout history, stocks have been great for growth over the long term. This is why they’re typically the largest part of the average investor’s portfolio.

When you invest in stocks, you’re purchasing a share of ownership in a company, which allows you to benefit from capital gains and dividends. For instance, monitoring the Santos Stock Price can provide insights into the energy sector and the company’s performance. By keeping an eye on these stock prices and understanding the factors that influence its fluctuations, you can make more informed decisions about when to buy or sell.

For people far from retirement, their portfolio may be anywhere from 80 to 100 percent stocks.  For people at retirement, this number is usually below 50 percent.

A general rule of thumb when projecting stock returns is to use a conservative estimate of 6% a year.

What are Bonds?

Bonds are another common investment found in people’s portfolios.

Also known as fixed income products, bonds are debt securities, issued by borrowers to raise money from investors.  Bonds are like an IOU issued to investors that pay interest for the life of the loan as payment for lending your money for a certain period of time.

While bonds can increase in value over time, the main benefit of buying bonds is the fixed income.

Investors typically buy bonds to use as a hedge against the more volatile nature of stocks, and for the additional income from the interest payments.

A general rule of thumb when projecting bond returns is to use a conservative estimate of 3% a year.

With stocks and bonds, these can be packaged up into single securities (you buy 1 share of a stock for example), or into funds (where you can buy many different stocks at once).

Let’s talk about these different financial products a little more in detail.

Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are portfolios that are professionally managed by financial companies and portfolio managers.

Typically these funds can be specific to a certain sector or asset class.

Mutual funds pool investors’ money together and invest in products such as stocks, bonds, and other short-term debts in various allocations.

Similar to stocks and bonds, mutual funds pay us in three ways:

• dividends
• capital gains 

Investors typically buy mutual funds because they are actively managed, can be very specific, are relatively low cost and are generally liquid.

Mutual funds are known for their growth and income potential, depending on the particular fund.

ETFs

ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund.  ETFs are similar to mutual funds in that they are a collection of stocks, bonds, or other securities pooled together.  One major way they are different from mutual funds, however, is that they are traded on the stock market, and thus, their price changes throughout the day.

Similar to stocks, bonds and mutual funds, ETFs can pay us in two ways:

• capital gains
• dividends

Investors typically buy ETFs because of their low cost, high diversification and liquidity.

ETFs can be used as growth or income investments.

Index Funds

An index fund is a mutual fund or ETF that seeks to track the return of a market index.  For example, there is a mutual fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, which seeks to mimic the performance of the S&P 500.

Similar to an mutual fund or ETF, an index fund is a security that can be bought and sold on the stock market.

Similar to stocks, bonds and mutual funds, ETFs can pay us in two ways:

• capital gains
• dividends

Investors typically buy index funds because they are highly diversified, have very low fees, are fairly liquid and offer different investment options.

Index funds are typically used for both growth and income investments.

Now that you’ve learned about the different market products, let’s dive deeper and talk more specifically about the stock market.

Why Should You Invest with the Financial Markets?

There are a number of reasons why we invest in the financial markets:

•  Make income through dividends
•  Make income when we sell through capital gains

The main reason we do so, however, is because of compounding.

What is compounding?

The best way to think about compounding is to talk about compound interest.

According to Investopedia, “compound interest is the financial principal that dictates that interest is calculated not just on the initial principal amount of the deposit, but also all of the accumulated interest of previous periods of a deposit or loan.

Compound interest is commonly known as the eighth-wonder of the world, and it’s no question why – it’s an amazing thing.

In order to best look at how compound interest works, let’s look at a real life example.

How Compound Interest Affects Your Investments

Let’s say that you’ve invested in an asset which returns, on average, 7% each year, and let’s say you invest $10,000 the first year.

After one year, you have $10,000 of your original investment, and $700 of growth.

While yes, $700 would be great to take out and spend, you decide to leave it in because now, that $700 is going to grow at 7% interest in addition to the rest of your $10,000 original investment.

After the second year, you now have $11,449 ($10,000 + $700 + $700 * 7%)

Again, you decide to leave it in, since now, both $700s are going to grow in addition to your original investment.

Over 30 years, the growth is quite large: your original $10,000 investment is worth $76,123!

After 1 year, you barely had anything more than your original investment. But after 30 years, you had over 7 times your initial investment!

That’s the power of compounding.

Now that we know why we should invest, the next question is what should you invest in and what are the next steps to start growing you money?

How Should You Invest Your Money?

At this point, investing probably sounds like a good idea. Over time, you can increase your wealth and money through investing.

Now, you may ask, “how should I invest my money?”

How to invest and what to invest in are two of the most important, yet complicated questions, to answer.

Every person has a unique financial situation, and have many different variables affecting their lives.

These different variables make it difficult to say one particular way of investing is best for everyone.

It depends entirely on what your goals are, and the amount of time (and income) with which you have to do it.

However, there are some different things to consider when looking to answer what you should invest in and how to invest.

Active Investing

If you prefer to be a more active investor, you can invest directly in a new product, real estate, a business, or a start-up.

Active investing is more hands-on and will typically require a bigger time and capital commitment. With active investing, the potential returns can possibly outweigh risks, and this is what many finance professionals try their hand at.

You could also invest in single stocks and buy and sell to your liking, though this active form of investing in the financial market can carry additional transaction fees and risk.

If you want to spend more time researching and learning about investing and different products, active investing may be for you. A popular kind of investing which demands a more hands on approach to trading is dealing with foreign exchanges (also known as forex) and swapping different currencies. It’s obviously important to do a Forex Trading Fundamental Analysis before you get started, the same as with any other trading medium. But this can be an effective way to trade and make profits if you want to be more actively involved.

However, if you want a more passive approach to building wealth, there is passive investing.

Passive Investing

If you don’t have a lot of money or time to invest, and you want a pretty hands-off approach, then it’s likely you’ll want to weigh heavily in more passive forms of investing, like index funds.

Index funds are like a bundle of stocks or bonds that give you exposure to a wide variety of companies, all in different sectors and market-caps.

Index funds look to track a certain index, such as the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Index.

By investing in these index funds, you can capture the general trend of these indices and own a number of different companies.

How Often Should You Invest?

The next question when thinking about how you should invest is to talk about the frequency of your investing.

Before you decide how often to invest your money, you need to know the various ways of doing it. You can either do it in a lump sum, or over time in irregular amounts, or over time in predetermined amounts.

Dollar-cost-averaging is the idea of investing specific amounts of money, at specific periods of time, in order to offset any volatility.

For example, if you have $1,000.00 to invest over a one-year period, then you would buy approximately $83.33 worth of your investment every month.

What is Dollar Cost Averaging?

Dollar cost averaging is a powerful concept and something many people do to avoid timing the market.

By dollar cost averaging, you avoid guessing and trying to time the market. Trying to out beat the market by investing only when you get a gut feeling may not be optimal for your investing returns.

Here’s an example of the benefits of dollar cost averaging (DCA) from an article on Investopedia:

“Let’s assume an investor invests $1,000 on the first of each month into Mutual Fund XYZ. Assume that over a period of five months, the share price of Mutual Fund XYZ at the beginning of each month was as follows:

Month 1: $20, Month 2: $16, Month 3: $12, Month 4: $17, Month 5: $23

On the first of each month, by investing $1,000, the investor can buy a number of shares equal to $1,000 divided by the share price. In this example, the number of shares purchased each month is equal to:

Month 1 shares = $1,000 / $20 = 50, Month 2 shares = $1,000 / $16 = 62.5, Month 3 shares = $1,000 / $12 = 83.33, Month 4 shares = $1,000 / $17 = 58.82, Month 5 shares = $1,000 / $23 = 43.48

Regardless of how many shares the $1,000 monthly investment purchased, the total number of shares the investor owns is 298.14, and the average price paid for each of those shares is $16.77. Considering the current price of the shares is $23, this means an original investment of $5,000 has turned into $6,857.11.

If the investor had spent the entire $5,000 on one of these days instead of spreading the investment across five months, the total profitability of the position would be higher or lower than $6,857.11 depending on the month chosen for the investment. However, no one can time the market. DCA is a safe strategy to ensure an average price per share that is favorable overall.”

By dollar cost averaging, you help offset volatility by spreading out your purchases, while also maximizing profitability.

In the example above, it’s possible to have made money by just putting in a lump sum. However, the chances of you picking the “right” month is low. It makes much more sense to use DCA. If you are a first-time investor, investing a lump sum right before a market crash can be demoralizing. DCA helps to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

Acting based on emotion, or how we think the market may or may not react can lead us to buying or selling stocks just because.  Acting with emotion can cause you to make some bad decisions.

How Long Should You Keep Your Investment?

Another question to consider is how long should you keep your investments.

This question is pretty simple.  Are you investing for now, or for your future?

If you’re investing for retirement, then it’s likely you’ll keep your investments going for the rest of your life!

If you’re investing as a way to bring in extra income, and not necessarily fund your financial freedom, then a good rule of thumb is to keep your investment for about five years.

The main reason for this is because five years is a fairly lengthy period of time when it comes to investing.

It’s short enough that it’ll hopefully allow you to recover from a loss, but long enough for you to potentially get some good profits.

If you’re trying to reach financial independence, you should be prepared to leave your money in for much longer. Some investors literally leave their money in an investment account for decades, as this is a way to maximize profits while reducing volatility and loss.

Should I Invest or Pay Off Debt?

Another question to consider when thinking about investing is should you invest or pay off debt?

Many financial advisers suggest paying off debt before investing any money into the stock market.

This is because the interest that accrues from high-interest debt like payday loans, credit cards, etc., cost you much more than what you will earn from your investments.

For example, if you have $1,000 earning 7% interest a year in a brokerage account, you’re earning $70 a year.  On the contrary, if you have a $1,000 balance on a credit card with an interest rate of 18%, your debt is costing you over $180 a year.

Keeping your money locked into an investment instead of using it to help pay off your debt is actually costing you over $100 a year!

On the other hand, if the interest rate on your debt is super low, it may make more sense to invest your free cash, rather than paying off the debt.

For example, if you have an auto loan at 4%, it might be better to invest your cash in the stock market because you can earn higher returns than 4%. The stock market has historically returned 7-8% on average over the last century.

By investing in the stock market, you can theoretically grow your wealth 3-4% more than by paying off debt.

Questions to Ask Yourself about Debt or Investing

Before deciding to invest or pay off debt, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you have enough money each month to cover your debt payments? Do you have additional money at the end of each month to invest?
• How much debt do you have? What are the interest rates? Do you feel debt has a grip on your life or finances?
• If you have extra money available to you, will you actually invest it? Or will you spend it?
• Do you have an emergency fund?
• What are the terms of your debt? Are there any penalties for prepayment? Is your interest rate adjustable?

By considering the questions above, it will be easier to decide whether to pay off debt first or to invest.

Start Investing Today and Build Wealth for the Future

Investing in the financial markets is commonly thought of as hard or confusing. While investing has some confusing jargon, the basics of investing aren’t too complicated.

Now, with this article, you have the basics for investing.

Investing can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.

The main takeaway is investing, whether it’s in stocks, bonds, or a different investment, is critical to building wealth.

By investing, you can grow your wealth over time and reach your financial goals.

Investing is the greatest wealth builder of all time – you can’t afford to miss out on it!

What does your dream life look like? Are you living your dream life? What if you could become the master of your life, and do whatever you wanted?

Becoming the master of your life is possible, if you want to take control of your life and achieve your wildest dreams.

What’s your purpose? What are you passionate about? Do you have a bucket list?

All of these questions can help you form a picture of your dream life, but getting to your dream life will require a journey and effort.

No one is an overnight success.

However, you can do anything you put your mind to.

Are you ready to become the master of your life? Do you want to become great in life?

Let’s begin.

15 Steps to Take to Become Great in Life

Creating a great life for yourself will take some time, but it is possible with effort and focus.

Life mastery is pushing your limits to become better each and every day. Some days will be better than others, but over time, you’ll be achieve your wildest dreams.

Below are the 15 steps you can take to become the master of your life, and to create a fantastic life for yourself.

1. Be Proactive and Live Intentionally
2. Tap into the Power of Positive Thinking
3. Work to Live with an Abundance Mindset
4. Set Goals for Success
5. Apply the Concept of Compounding in Your Life
6. Manage Your Spending and Live Within Your Means
7. Explode Your Income
8. Get Your Diet Right
9. Exercise and Get Your Blood Flowing
10. Learn How to Become a Better Learner
11. Learn Emotional Intelligence and How to Cultivate Strong Relationships
12. Understand it’s Okay to Say “I Don’t Know”
13. Remove Noise and Focus on What Matters to You
14. Network with Mentors and Those More Experienced than You
15. Find Balance in Work, Play and Rest

Let’s dive into each of these steps in greater detail below.

1. Be Proactive and Live Intentionally

The first step to becoming the master of your life is changing your mindset and attitude towards your life.

No longer are you going to react to what your environment and surrounding is giving you. Instead, you do what you want and live with purpose.

Proactive behavior is all about planning and taking action on your plans.

If you want to get in shape, get rich, or get into a relationship, no one is going to be able to accomplish these things except for you!

You are the only person who has the power to control how your life.

You have the keys to your life. It is up to you to unlock your full potential and lead a great life. Through proactive behavior, you can take control of your life and create the success you crave.

2. Tap into the Power of Positive Thinking

Our minds are incredibly powerful and can quite literally create its own reality.

Using positive thinking can manifest itself in living the life you want to live.

Telling yourself you are a positive person will result in you becoming a more positive person.

You are what you say you are.

Saying, “I’m a negative person who can never accomplish anything” is a reinforcing trap. Saying this sort of thing will result in you being a negative person who will never accomplish anything.

Likewise, telling yourself, “I’m a positive person who can accomplish anything” will lead to accomplishments beyond your wildest dreams.

Using positive thinking can help guide you on your path to life mastery.

3. Work to Live with an Abundance Mindset

In life, rarely are situations win-lose, where you can win, and I lose (or vice versa).

Many situations in life are win-win, where through helping others and giving selflessly, we both can gain and improve over time.

Living with an abundance mindset is all about understanding there is enough to go around for all of us, and having the patience and understanding to share and give.

4. Set Goals for Success

If you don’t know where you are going, you will never get there.

Setting goals helps put a bulls-eye on the wall for you to aim at with your actions.

By setting goals, you can start to put structure to your future.

For me, I love action based goals.

For example, one of my goals right now is to do some exercise each and every day. My want is to be in shape and to look better physically. With a little bit of exercise each day, I know I’ll be able to reach this want and goal, and will be successful.

What do you want? How will you get there? It’s time to set a goal!

5. Apply the Concept of Compounding in Your Life

Simple consistent actions WILL lead to success over time.

When starting off, it’s very tough to see any progress.

However, the power of compounding is incredibly powerful.

Think about pushing a massive rock – at first, you can barely push it. But, after pushing more and more, all of a sudden, the rock starts to move and turn over on itself.

As time goes on, you barely have to push.

That’s the power of compounding and consistency.

So many people fail to get to that breaking point, and instead give up.

Consistency WILL bring success and clarity to your situation. You need to commit to consistency if you want to find success and master your life.

6. Manage Your Spending and Live Within Your Means

From my experience, I’m most happy when I have money in the bank, and when I’m making purchases on things which bring me direct joy.

Living paycheck to paycheck, or having debt, is no fun.

If you want to master your life, you need to get a hold on your spending and live within your means.

Saving money isn’t hard, but it does require discipline.

By saving more, you can have money in the bank to take a vacation, buy a car or house, invest in a business or a new lifestyle, and live the life you want.

7. Explode Your Income

There are two ways you can improve your financial situation in the short term: earn more money, or save more money.

While saving is great, there is a lower bound to how low you can drop your expenses.

On the flip side, with earning potential, there is no bound to how high you can grow your income.

Becoming the master of your life includes mastering your money and becoming more valuable towards others.

With a higher value, you can attract more responsibility and work, and with more responsibility and work, you can demand more pay.

Exploding your income is important because our time is limited. If you are stuck in a job you don’t like, with more savings, you could make a lifestyle change or take a lower paying job.

With growing your income, you can achieve these goals faster.

8. Get Your Diet Right

Have you ever heard of the saying, you are what you eat?

Putting garbage into your body will result in having a garbage physique and mental state.

Getting your diet right is a piece of mastering your life because food is what fuels you to take action on your goals.

Everyone will be different in what kind of food they can eat, but getting your diet right involves eating healthy foods and drinking a lot of water.

For me, eating healthy means eating a high fat, high protein diet with a lot of fruits and vegetables mixed in.

Also, for my health, I’ve experimented with fasting and do intermittent fasting.

Experimentation is important for your diet, but it is certainly a very important piece of becoming the master of your life.

9. Exercise and Get Your Blood Flowing

Just like diet, exercise is another important piece to life mastery.

For me, I try to do a little bit each day. I enjoy doing bodyweight exercises, biking, walking, rock climbing, and playing basketball with friends.

I don’t have a gym pass, and don’t subscribe to the thought that you need to be a meat head to be in shape.

Instead, doing a little bit each day, 30-60 minutes of activity will be good for your health and wellness.

Getting your blood pumping will help with brain activity and will also keep you strong.

10. Learn How to Become a Better Learner

On your journey to realizing your goals, at some point, you most likely will have to learn something new.

What if you could learn something and make it stick in the next week? Wouldn’t that be great?

It is possible to learn how to become a better learner.

By understanding how to become a better learner, you can develop the confidence to venture into new subjects and pick them up fast.

11. Learn Emotional Intelligence and How to Cultivate Strong Relationships

Humans are social creatures, and with many situations, we have to interact with other people.

At work, for example, you most likely have to interact with a number of people: your boss, your co-workers, your clients and customers, etc.

Being able to communicate, understand emotions, and navigate through different social situations is very important for success in this world.

Communication and emotional intelligence are two skills which are arguably the most important skills to improve upon.

Working on these will take time, but they certainly worth improving and building over time.

12. Understand it’s Okay to Say “I Don’t Know”

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing at all.” – Socrates

The quote above is a great example of this life mastery step.

Being eternally curious, and looking to learn more and more, will lead to success over time.

Understanding that there are holes in your knowledge and understanding of things will be beneficial for your growth.

Being closed minded and living in an echo chamber is not helpful for achieving your goals.

Get out of your comfort zone, embrace uncertainty, and say “I don’t know”. It’s freeing and a lot of fun!

13. Remove Noise and Focus on What Matters to You

There is so much noise in the world: news outlets, social media, advertisements, the list goes on and on.

What’s important to you? Is grandma’s constant Facebook posting important to you, or can that be ignored?

Focus and removing distractions will help you do what matters and get you to your goals and dreams faster.

Multi-tasking is possible, but focusing in on one task at a time is far superior.

By removing noise and distractions, you can accomplish what you need to and get on to the next step.

14. Network to Gain Perspective and Understanding

One of my favorite quotes is “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

For me, I know I don’t know everything, and don’t have a full perspective on my goals and life.

However, I can ask others who are more wise and knowledgeable than me to help me on my journey.

Through networking and meeting other people, you can gain a better perspective and learn about how to better your skills and knowledge.

15. Balance Work, Play and Rest

Balance is so critical in life.

While it seems you need to work every hour and day of your life to be successful, leading a fulfilling life involves balance with time for play and rest.

If you notice above, I’ve included diet, mindset, money, relationships, and exercise in the steps to creating your dream life and becoming the master of your life.

While work and action is very important, sleep, rest and having fun is equally as important!

Our bodies don’t build muscle in the gym! Our bodies build muscle during rest!

Apply this same concept to your work, and you’ll go far.

Become the Mastermind and Creator of Your Dream Life for a Great Life

With the points and articles listed above, you can start to take the next steps to create and live the life you want and deserve.

Self improvement is a life long endeavor, and life mastery is an extreme goal.

Getting to your dream life won’t happen today, it probably won’t happen tomorrow.

It might not even happen this year!

Heck, I’ve been taking steps towards “improvement” over the last 8 years and STILL feel I’m not to my goals yet.

However, with the right guidance and consistent efforts over time, you can and WILL achieve your goals.

Are you ready and motivated to take control of your life?