It makes the world go round yet it’s the route of all evil. It doesn’t grow on trees, yet it’s made from paper. We’re always trying to get more of it. Yet however much we have, it never quite seems to be enough. We all spend our days scrambling around for it, yet it always seems to elude us. That’s the nature of money!
They say that money can’t buy you happiness (although some would beg to differ), but it can buy lots of things that make day to day life a little more manageable. And relieve some of the financial anxiety that comes with being a parent in the 21st century.
Let’s face it, raising a kid today is an expensive prospect. At last count, it costs almost a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child modestly to the age of 17. As such, it comes as no surprise that all parents and families are taking steps to save and grow their money when they can. Unfortunately, the financial world is rife with confusing technical jargon. Misleading information and credit that looks too good to be true (and usually is). Thus, if you’re serious about growing your money this year, you must steer clear of these commonly made financial missteps which are still made in 2018.
MORE: SIMPLE STEPS TO INCREASE YOUR INCOME
Sticking with your awful high street savings account
Our parents always told us that saving was the safest path to financial security. Unfortunately, they grew up in a very different financial age. Not only was their cost of living significantly less than ours, they enjoyed far more favorable rates of interest on their savings. Today, most of us stick with low yield savings accounts with anaemic rates of interest. Either because we’re unaware of what a raw deal we’re getting or we’re simply too busy to change. Most high street savings accounts have an APY of around 0.06%. But switching to an online savings account will yield a much higher rate of interest and many of them have no administrative charges to switch.
Investing without understanding
While saving is a low risk way of growing your money, it can take a long time for it to begin to grow in any meaningful way. As such, many supplement their savings by investing. Most are fiscally aware enough to maintain a diverse stock portfolio and avoid putting all of their eggs in one basket. However, many make investments based on hearsay, conjecture or the word of mouth advice of ill-informed friends and colleagues. It’s not hard to see why. The world of trading is incredibly complex and relies on a lot of bamboozling language which can be confusing to neophytes. Fortunately, however, there are many sites that will explain this hectic world to you in plain English; just check out this article titled Covered Calls For Dummies. All it takes is a little research and understanding to increase the yield of your portfolio.
Failing to move credit card debt around
You can’t expect to grow your finances if a portion of them is being syphoned off by debt a little at a time every month. Credit card debt can easily become a black hole if you don’t move it around periodically from one card to another. This is because credit card companies have a nasty habit of hitching up the interest rates. As such, it behooves you to move your debts to new cards which have 0 interest introductory rates on balance transfers. When this period expires, simply move the debt again. You will incur an administrative charge but it will be dwarfed by the savings you make.
*collaborative post