What if I told you that you can stand on the shoulders of titans, and reveal all the pitfalls, that could kill you financially, and discover how you can easily avoid them, so you can rapidly skyrocket your chances of success in life?
Also, do you know what’s even worse than making mistakes? Is having regret, and that’s what I want to talk about with you, I’m going to uncover the 10 biggest financial killers that you’ll regret, guaranteed in 10 years.
1. Not Starting A Budget
Don’t worry I’m just like you, I hate budgeting too, I don’t think it’s fun to be holding up the line in a grocery store arguing with the store owner.
On why the store owner can’t take 1 Dollar off the toothpaste since I’m trying to be frugal and save money.
Also, I know you’re thinking that budgeting is boring, restricting, and nobody wants to do it, and guess what nobody is doing it.
According to Prnewswire.com, it’s reported that 33% of Americans don’t maintain a budget, or any kind of financial plan, however, it’s proven that those who do have a budget are more likely to succeed financially.
If you have a budget and you know where your money is going every single month, you are going to make it financially, so why wouldn’t you have a budget?
If you think that budgeting is about complex spreadsheets, think again, there are many tools, and apps, out there that make budgeting simple and smooth.
All of these tools and software have been tried and tested by countless people, so you can be rest assured this will greatly help you with your budgeting.
Come on there is no excuse! Pick a software, and let’s get to work helping you budget, so you can finally buy whatever you want, whenever you want, as much as you want!
2. Not Paying Off Your Credit Card
This is very important from month to month, according to ValuePenguin.com, a survey was done by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
And they said that the mean credit card debt of U.S. households is approximately $5,700 and is paying 17.98% on interest. WOW, that’s seriously bad!
I don’t know about you, but why would you want to give so much money to a credit card company? That’s your money, keep it in your wallet, spend it on what you want to spend.
You know what would be even better? If you want to get rid of some extra cash give it to me, I can guarantee that your money will go to good use. (Cough Cough… Being spent on advertising, and Just Eat meals 😂😂😂).
As much as that would sound great, I suggest that you simply pay it off and be done with it, I don’t hate credit cards, they can be a great asset when used right.
I use credit cards every single day, I have a credit card for my personal life, and I use those credit cards to get reward points.
Whether I’m traveling, and I want airfare, hotels, private lounges, food, or whatever that might be, I rack up those reward points and I cash them in.
However, be very careful because you don’t want to get into the trap of paying high amounts of money on interest for nothing, instead take that money and do something you love with it.
3. Buying Any Financial Product You Don’t Understand
Let me give you an example, 2 months ago I was browsing my second favorite website called Reddit, (Youtube is my first).
And this person was talking about the horror story that they had by not knowing what they were investing in.
They were sold on this thing called a “Rich Persons Roth IRA”, and at first, they didn’t know how much they were paying on this asset, they estimated it was about 76 Dollars a year.
As the story unfolds you could tell that this person was paying more than this, but the horrifying part is, that this person was paying $3,500 per year on this asset.
I kid you not, I spat my herbal tea out of my mouth when I saw that figure, it wouldn’t be too bad if these kinds of tragedies were very rare to happen, but this is not an isolated incident, this happens all the time.
People buying some kind of investment that they don’t understand, yet they’re still putting all their trust into this adviser, which is just a slimy, and shady salesperson.
Who is tricking them into buying something that they don’t understand, and is not right for their situation.
Before you buy any financial product, do your research, do a background check, get a second opinion, and make sure that you understand what you’re putting your money into.
4. Neglecting Your Emergency Fund
This is your emergency fund, this is your cash savings, this is what you put away into a safe place, that gives you the freedom to not be stuck in a job that you hate, to not be able to do things that you want to do in life, like travel, enjoy some time out with a loved one, or your family.
A shocking statistic by Statista, reported that according to a survey done by GOBankingRates, that nearly 70% of Americans have less than $1,000 stashed away.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across somebody that isn’t in a job they hate, has a boss that they hate, or is living in a situation that they can’t get out of, because they have no cash to fall back on.
This is why it’s super important to build up this emergency fund, so you’re not trapped in a situation that you don’t want to be in.
When you have enough cash on hand, that gives you the power, and freedom, to make choices on your own, and not be put into slavery by somebody else.
I guarantee that your life will do a 180-degree turn, when you’re no longer at the mercy of someone else, and, you have an emergency fund that grants you the freedom to say yes, or no to anything in life.
5. Buying A New Car
I hate when I see millennial money on YouTube, and the person is trying to convince everyone that they must buy a new car because they need “Reliable transportation”.
News flash, reliable transportation does not equal a brand-new car, there are plenty of used cars you can drive that are still reliable.
According to Experian, consumers have a total of $1.2 trillion in outstanding auto loans, the average car payment for a new vehicle is $554, and the average for a used car is $391.
This means, if a 25-year-old is trading in a new car every 3 years, where they are always making a car payment for most of their adult life, they’re going to pay almost $180,000 in-car payments over their lifetime.
Could you imagine if you took some of that car payment and invested it? Or, what if you drove a used car, and used that car payment, and invested that money? I think that the number one wealth killer among Americans right now are car payments.
I see so many people having car payments of $400, $500, $600, or more per month, and that doesn’t even include insurance, and everything else that goes along with taking care of that car.
All that money could have been used to boost your emergency fund and invest, so you can get out of your job early, travel the world, and do the things you truly love, instead of sucking that into a stupid car payment.
Allow me to paint the picture…
It’s late at night, you’re on the edge of your bed, you look at the time it says 2:00 AM, “Another sleepless night I guess, how on earth am I going to pay for all of this?” You tell yourself.
You switch on the light, the glare blinds you for a moment, you look at yourself in the mirror, you look ok but, inside you feel disgusting, inside you feel like a failure, and you feel hopeless.
You stare at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, you know I thought I would be more in life, I didn’t even want to be (Bill Gates kind of rich), I just wanted to have more than my parents.
However, they would still look me in the eyes with a weak smile and say, “It’s all right, I can get it for you, I’ll just have to do some extra shifts at work or, I’ll find the money don’t worry about it.”
But, deep down, I knew that was a lie, I knew that they were trying to comfort me, but it made me feel worse.
I would look at the price tag and think to myself “Is it really that expensive? It doesn’t look like it, how come other families can easily buy it?”.
But you know what the biggest kicker was?
I was sick and tired, of feeling sick and tired. ☹
If any of this resonated with you, I want you to know that you aren’t alone, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I would love to invite you to a video training that will break down a “Beginner-friendly” method to finally breaking the chains of your financial prison, and accessing the life you truly deserve.
6. Trying To Be A Do It Yourself Investor, When you Have No Idea What You’re Doing
Most people will say go out and buy a vanguard index fund, and yes, that can make sense for a lot of situations.
However, there comes a point where you have to start planning your retirement income distributions, figuring out how much you need in retirement? Do you have enough to last you? And, are you taking the appropriate amount of risk?
Sorry but, index funds don’t always work in those situations, it’s a lot more complex than that, here’s another example.
I remember a guy on Reddit who had a $200,000 portfolio and pulled out before a crash was about to happen, wow think about that, he saved a ton of money because, he didn’t have to go through that awful bear market.
But now, some of us in the comments were saying to him ‘Wow that’s amazing! You dodged a major bullet, oh by the way when did you get back into the market? And how did you know when it was safe to get back in?”
Just to add, this crash was 5 years ago, and can you guess what his response was? He responded that he hadn’t got back into the market yet, because he didn’t know when the right time was, he was super scared.
He did an amazing thing timing the market where he got out before the crisis hit but, then he had all this cash on the table that was just sitting there making zero return.
Because he didn’t know when the right time was to get back in, it doesn’t always make sense to try and do things on your own, it doesn’t make sense to be a do-it-yourself investor especially when it comes to retirement planning.
When you’re younger and you have 10, 20, and 30 years to allow that money to grow, sure, that can make a lot of sense.
But, when you get older trying to be a do-it-yourself investor, is like trying to fly a plane and the only training you have was playing Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Would I want to be on that plane? Absolutely not, I would rather swim across the ocean to get to my destination.
However, If you still don’t want to listen to my advice, can you please do me a favor? And get a second opinion.
Have somebody else look at your portfolio that knows what they’re doing, you can have a second set of eyes, to make sure you’re not making any stupid, deadly, or costly decisions.
7. Thinking That Important Insurance Policies Are Stupid
I understand how you feel, I hate paying money on insurance, it feels like a waste of money, but there are some insurances that you must have especially, if you have a family to take care of.
There are many important insurance policies to consider but today, I want to talk about life insurance, I hear so many young families that for some reason don’t think life insurance is important.
According to lewisellis.com, they have reported that about 1 in 4 Americans have no life insurance coverage at all, or if they do have life insurance, they have a very small policy through their employer.
I guess having some life insurance is better than nothing, but I’ll use a real-life example from someone who was asking a question on Quora.
The person said, I have 2 young kids, a wife that is a stay-at-home mom and, I’m the primary breadwinner, and I’m making over $80,000 a year as a product manager, did you know how much life insurance he had?
Only, $10,000, sure that would cover his burial, but what about his kids, wife, house, cars, college, and the rest of their future? $10,000 is not going to be anything for them.
When people were having this discussion with this person on Quora, we were all trying to help this person out, by trying to paint the picture of how important life insurance was, for not just him but his family too, and thankfully this person started to get it.
But there are so many people that don’t get it, and the number one reason why people don’t buy life insurance is, that they think it’s too expensive.
I’m telling you, it’s not expensive, you can get a $250,000 policy for around $15 to $20 per month.
Do your research, there are plenty of websites where you can get free quotes to find out how much life insurance is going to cost you.
it’s going to take you less than a minute, to figure it out, so stop making excuses, and get started protecting yourself and your family.
8. Forgetting About Your Retirement Plan, Or Not Spending Enough Time On It
What is it about retirement that people don’t think they need to save anything towards? It’s like they believe that there is some magic retirement fairy that is going to appear when the time is right and leave all the money you need under your pillow.
The reality is that my generation, and those younger than me, are not going to have social security, and, we’re not going to have pensions like our grandparents.
Any money we have, and need for retirement is on us, so if you’re not putting any money away, you’re going to have nothing, according to Forbes there was a study done by Statista, and it reveals that.
“Working Americans are still struggling when it comes to saving money for both their short-term and long-term goals: More than one in five (21 percent) don’t save any of their annual income” – Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/06/03/report-a-quarter-of-americans-have-no-retirement-savings-infographic/
It’s crazy, we know what we aren’t saving but yet, we do nothing about it, I don’t care if you start with a 401K, Roth IRA, or investing in some online brokerage.
You have to start saving something, if you’re saving nothing right now start saving 5% of your income, that’s a great start, especially if you have nothing going.
But, that’s nowhere near enough, your goal should be 20% of your income that you want to save every single year, that’s right I said it 20%!
20% will give you a fighting chance to retire when you want, any more than that and you might be able to retire early.
Any less than that and you’re probably not going to be able to retire when you want, and you might be working at KFC for the rest of your life.
9. Not Having A Money Conversation With Your Spouse
You must have heard this before but, the number 2 reason that couples get divorced is because of, finances, and both of them not communicating with each other.
You must have those open discussions about what your money goals are, so sit your lover down on a routine basis and have those important money discussions.
For example, talk about how you’re going to save your money, how you’re going to invest your money, and, what you’re both going to do with your money, make sure that you both understand what each of your goals are.
If you’re trying to take on some financial goals, and you’re not communicating with your spouse, it’s going to make those goals much harder to achieve.
Also, it’s going to cause resentment, because, you’re not having those discussions with them, be open, share those money goals out loud, so you can conquer those goals together.
10. Being Blind To Your Recurring Expenses
How easy is it nowadays to have recurring expenses automatically coming out of your checking, or savings account?
We got our cell phone bill, satellite bill, Netflix, gym subscription, healthy food delivery subscription, recurring business expenses, and many more.
There are so many things that we can sign up for that are going to charge us easily, every single month, but, don’t let those stack up.
Make sure that you do a routine check on your credit card statements, and, bank statements, just to see what you’re being charged for every single month.
I do this for my personal expenses, and my business expenses, there are so many little things that you may have signed up for years ago, that don’t make sense now.
I remember giving my bank statement a little look, and I kept on seeing this weird app that I couldn’t remember, but it was always taking money out of my pocket.
I gave it some more research, and it turns out it was a landing page software that I had put my credit card into, but the free trial had ended.
However, as it said in their terms and conditions, they would keep on billing me once the trial expires.
Once I cut it off, I realized that I had saved myself a few hundred Dollars a month, which was nice to know but, annoying that I hadn’t done it sooner.
It’s important you routinely check, to make sure you know where your money is going, and you’re making sure that it is climbing towards a financial goal that is important to you.
Be in control of your money, make sure you know that it’s going towards something that you want to achieve, and can be proud of, instead of some stupid payment that means nothing to you.
All right 10 years is a long time from now, but if you make some changes in your life, and you recognize some of these financial choices you’re making will end up in serious regret, then I beg of you, please don’t wait until its too late to fix these.
Don’t let 10 years fly by, (Which it will sooner than you think), and then wake up one day and say to yourself Oh My Gosh What The Hell Happened!
Please, for the sake of you and the people you care about, don’t let this be you, I hear far too many horror stories from people who were just like you and ignored this advice, and now they are the most miserable people on the planet.
These little changes can swing big doors in your entire life, don’t sink in regret, and sadness go ahead and get started!
This took me ages to make, I’m asking you for a tiny favor, if you liked any part of this blog post, please share it with others.
So, we can spread the word and positively impact other people’s lives.
Who knows if you were to share this with just 3 people you could give someone the guidance, and, inspiration to take action, and make the world a better place.
Thank you for reading I wish you a wealthy, healthy, and fulfilled life.
“financial choices”,”personal finance”,”change your life”,”success”, financial advisor, financial planning, world finance, financial management, wealth management, financial accounting, reddit personal finance, reddit financial education, Quora financial education, Quora personal finance, financial services, financial institutions, reddit wealth management, Quora wealth management, business finances, financial statement, Dave Ramsey, Wealth Hacker – Jeff Rose, financial killers, 10 Financial Choices that You Will Regret in 10 Years, impulsive buying disorder, compulsive shopping, millennial money, Financial mistakes
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