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| Debt Disaster Relief E-Book |
| How to make your money work for you. |
| Now that you are debt-free you want to make your money work for you. A really good book to read on this is The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clayson. At first glance it may not appear to be a typical financial book, but it is one of the very best. It is a quick, fun read and has many lessons to be taken from it.
The most important step is saving money, instead of spending more. As you move toward becoming debt-free your bills will start to dwindle down. This is how you accumulate wealth. By using the basic economic equation: increase income and decrease expenses. It says that if you do either one of these you will always better your situation. Doing both can snowball you into wealth. But it is not just about following the equation to the T. The real key here is what you do with the extra money from this point that determines how fast you will accumulate wealth. There are many ways you can make your money work for you. Whether it be investing in stocks and bonds, mutual funds, Certificates of Deposits better known as CD�s at your bank, or maybe towards your own retirement. You can even invest in real estate. Aside from standard investing, if you have paid off all of your credit cards but still have a loan on a car or on your house, this could prove to be the best and safest investment. Making extra payments towards the principal can save you thousands of dollars. There are many financial calculators available online that can estimate what your savings would be. Even by paying just $50 extra a month towards your home mortgage you can save thousands of dollars in the end. Take advantage of what your company has to offer. Some companies offer matching retirement plans up to a certain percentage. Some offer stock options and stock purchase plans. If you are not familiar with retirement programs or maybe unfamiliar with stocks, it pays to learn. At least you will know what your options are. At one of the companies I worked for they started issuing stock options. Which means they grant you the right to purchase stocks at a specified price during a specified time frame in the future. Five years later I was cleaning out my filebox and found these and decided to check them out. I had just filed them away and hadn�t given them much thought. I called the customer service number for our employee benefits programs and they explained everything to me. I couldn�t believe it! I had money just sitting there! These would be worthless if the time frame passed or in the event that the stock didn�t go up higher than what I was able to purchase them for based on my stock option certificate. But the stock had in fact gone higher, a lot higher! I cashed a few out and it didn�t cost me anything out of pocket. I got a check for around $750 about two weeks later. Another simple way to make your money work for you is to pay attention to how much interest you are earning at the bank. Many banks offer interest-bearing checking accounts and if you check around you can find some higher yield savings accounts. CD�s are also a good option. Pick up the brochure at your local bank and know what kinds of accounts they offer. Most banks offer upgraded accounts that gives you free traveler checks, cashiers checks, etc. Many things you would have to pay a fee for. A few banks even have accounts that give you a free safety deposit box. Be knowledgeable so you don�t miss out on anything. Working as a bank teller I got first hand experience at how many people qualify for upgraded accounts or could earn higher interest rates. Usually, with a simple button pushed on the computer I could give someone a higher interest rate. The only thing that was different was a minimum balance requirement. It is unfortunate that companies are not more proactive to automatically give qualifying customers what they really deserve. The same is true for the credit card companies. You might qualify for a lower interest rate but you have to call to ask. Be knowledgeable. Know what your options are. Think about what your life plans are and think about what the best way to make your money work for you. It may very well be a different path than your neighbors or your co-workers. Maybe you know you want to buy a piece of land in the mountains and build a cabin when you retire. Having a piece of land paid for is a good start. Whatever it is that you choose to do, start something. Each day you let slip by could be costing you money. |