When a young man or a woman, fresh out of College and all eager to star on their first job, the thrill of getting their first pay check is and experience that they will long remember. The sense of self worth is overwhelming, knowing that finally they are financially independent and able to fend for themselves. The euphoria of making their first buck makes them forget about everything else. Even important things that they learned in school. Things like saving for a rainy day vanished into the thin air because they are young and nothing can stop them. They get this false innuitian that what they have spent will and can be made back in a month’s time.
That is a very foolhardy thought. Nothing can be taken for granted these days. The company that you are working with might collapse next month. You might not be able to get another job for months. Your financial resources will be overdrawn if you have not saved some during the good days.
Even if you manage to keep the job, spending yourself dry every month is a totally stupid practise. What if you meet with an accident or something unexpected happens to your health? Who is going to pay for the huge medical bills if your parents themselves are cash strapped.
I know it is very difficult to save when you are young and energetic, Thee are a thousand things that you want and had always wanted. This is the time when you realise your dreams of owning such a thing coming true. So you buy something each month, knowing fully well you will have another paycheck coming at the end of the month.
To overcome this temptation, you can fore yourself to save. There are many ways of forced savings. The employee provident fund is a good example of forced saving for your retirement. The downside is you can’t touch that money until you reach a certain age, so that rules out the funds for emergency purposes.
Another good way of forced savings is to invest in a life insurance policy with medical benefits. Most insurance companies can arrange to have your premiums automatically deducted from your band account every month. In short you don’t need to do anything other than banking in your paycheck monthly. The money will be deducted and you can only spend the leftovers.
You might not like it for a few months, seeing that you can actually put that money in other “good use”, but once you get used to spending lessor per month, you won’t feel a thing. At least now you can spend until your last drop the day before you receive your pay. You have the luxury of knowing that you have kept something aside to take care of any emergencies. Treat it as an investment. If nothing happens to you until the policy matures, the proceeds is going to be good.
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Early investment is good. My dad has started investing for my education when I was young. Good advice for everyone.