- Jordan Q
3 Reasons You Should Care About Your Finances
Updated: Jul 20, 2019
Most of us have grown up with a strange stigma around money. No one talked about it, but we were all supposed to know what to do with it. Everyone walked around pretending like 401k's, IRA's, Long Term Savings Bonds, ETF's, Retirement age, Savings Rates, etc, were supposed to make sense to us. It had the whole "Emperor's new clothes" vibe to it. No one wanted to stop and admit that it wasn't working for them, and that they didn't understand it all. It was almost as if you weren’t allowed to bring it up with anyone. But caring, and learning about, your finances has so many benefits.
1. No One is Going to Care For You
No one is going to look at your savings account (or lack thereof) and magically fill it up. No one is going to come along side you at retirement and say, “It’s ok that you didn’t save anything, I did it for you! Here’s $800,000!” Unless YOU start paying attention to where your money is going, there won’t be any left over! You have to take full responsibility for where your money is at, and where you want it to go.
2. You Will Be Missing Out on Years of Potential
The longer it takes you to get serious about your finances, the more money will be needed to catch up to where you should be. Instead of being able to make it at retirement with only $150 a month consistently saved if you start at 18, you will need 3-4x that amount put away each month if you start in the later years. Not only that, when you get focused with your money, and are actively paying attention to it, you become very aware of how much everything is truly costing you. You are more able to be in complete control, and you will hit any goals you set more effectively.
3. Reduced Stress
The greatest stress factor in finances is the fact that you have no idea how well or poorly you are doing. You know you should have some money in retirement, and some in savings, but you have no clue how much you actually have. You know you have some credit card debt because you are paying monthly payments, but you aren’t sure how much you you owe in total. When you finally get control of your finances, and lay everything out in the open, then you have an actual number to focus on. Not just an unknown amount that is floating around in your head. You get something physical to look at, and as you attack it you can watch it go down. Even if it is a lot of debt, at least you know exactly what you are up against. That brings such a relief from a stress that many people I work with don’t even know they are carrying until it is dealt with.
You CAN learn about money, and you CAN take control of it. It is not as scary as you think, and the sooner you start, the sooner you can enjoy all of the benefits that come with caring about your finances.