The Importance of Financial Planning

There’s a saying:

Money Makes the World Go Round

and in some ways, it’s true. I can’t imagine a world without money.

In terms of money and my life, one thing I am grateful for is that I got a financial planner when I had my first child. Understanding different financial instruments that help me achieve my financial goals for my family is invaluable.

The other is also understanding money - short term spending vs. long term building.

When I was younger, I spent a lot of my money and didn’t save any of it. Heck, it was so bad that I even borrowed money from people that I barely knew. (Looking back, I was really bad with money.) I appreciate those that trusted me with their money and I am glad I paid them back.

When I got fired, I learned the harsh reality of not having income, where monthly repleshment of my bank account stopped happening.

That’s when I started to keep track of my spending - the financial activity I had true control over in any situation. The most valuable aspect is to see how much money went out and comparing to what came in.

Taking this to another level is to have savings taken out of my income before I could even spend it. That way, I would work with less.

There are lots of tools out there to handle money - try one and see how it feels, because at the end of the day, it’s your money.