Budgeting

Your 20s are often seen as a true coming of age when financial responsibility opens up the possibility of turning your dreams into reality. You’re settling into life after university, paying off debts, and starting to really define who you are as a person. But with bills, rent, keeping up social appearances, and other pressures, financial planning is often pushed to the side.

If you’ve had to reconsider or drastically change your spending and saving habits because of the current economic environment, you’re not alone. But there may be an opportunity in this current market to teach good financial habits to your teenagers; ones that they can carry into adulthood.

If anything good has come from the last few years of uncertainty and volatility, it’s that many of us are becoming more financially literate. We’re more aware of our finances and are better at prioritizing our expenditures. We’re also more aware of how important it is to save for the future, while still enjoying the present moment.

Walking across the stage and receiving your college degree can be the first step toward adulthood. Gone is the structure of education, replaced by the uncertainty of finding your first professional career.

But one thing that is often certain after graduation is student loan debt.

For many families, finances are rarely discussed in detail, even as children mature into adulthood. But as your parents' age, especially if they live into their 80s and 90s, there's a chance that they may lose their cognitive function and be less capable of managing various tasks. This can be upsetting for some parents and they may try to fight it, or deny that it’s happening.

If you’ve just begun your career and started collecting a decent paycheck, retirement probably feels like it’s lightyears away. But it will get here quicker than you expect, and when it does, you’ll want to be prepared.

For most of us the conversation isn’t whether or not we’ll need long term care, but rather when. According to the U. S.

If you’ve only just begun your career and are starting to collect a decent paycheck, the last thing on your mind is probably retirement planning. When you’re in your twenties and thirties, retirement can feel light years away, but it will get here much quicker than you can imagine. And when it does, you’ll want to be prepared.

The stockings have been hung, candles lit, lights strung, and carols sung when the financial stress begins to peek behind the corners of brown paper packages tied up with string. Everything’s shiny and cozy but you can’t extinguish that tiny feeling that you went way over budget this holiday. You’re not alone; holidays are a particularly financially stressful time for many.

We all have our own unique relationship with money. We certainly have our own unique way of both spending and saving money.

However, if you’re ready to start putting some money aside, or looking for tips on money management, or even the best way to pay your bills, the following tips may provide a little bit of help: