Scribd Logo

Language

Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

Enjoy millions of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more, with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book: Eliminate your debt, manage your money, and build for an exciting financial future
The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book: Eliminate your debt, manage your money, and build for an exciting financial future
The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book: Eliminate your debt, manage your money, and build for an exciting financial future
Ebook497 pages5 hours

The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book: Eliminate your debt, manage your money, and build for an exciting financial future

By Howard Davidoff

4.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Get control of your finances - and your future!

Do you feel like you'll never pay off your student loans? Worried about your mounting credit card debt? Wondering when you'll ever make enough money to stop living paycheck to paycheck? You're not alone - millions of young Americans are finding it hard to save for the future and still pay today's bills on time.

But with The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s and 30s Book, 3rd Edition, you'll learn how to be financially independent by:
  • Creating a workable budget
  • Minimizing credit card and student loan debt
  • Investing money wisely
  • Building an emergency fund

You'll also learn how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can help you navigate the often-confusing world of financial service products. With this easy-to-use guide, you'll learn how to manage, save, and invest wisely - starting today!
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Release dateAug 18, 2012
ISBN9781440542725
The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book: Eliminate your debt, manage your money, and build for an exciting financial future
Read preview

Related to The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book

Related ebooks

Related podcast episodes

Related articles

  • Article

    Personal Finance Lessons From a NFL Pro

    Jan 1, 1970

    Brandon Copeland is an NFL linebacker who currently plays for the New York Jets. He teaches a college course on personal finance to undergraduates at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. Early in your NFL career, you traded stock options a

    1 min read

  • Article

    Reading, Writing, and Personal Finance

    Jan 1, 1970

    Tim Ranzetta is cofounder of Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit that has developed a personal finance curriculum used by more than 60,000 high school and middle school teachers.  South Carolina recently became the 15th state to require that high

    2 min read

  • Article

    Lessons for Kids From the Crisis

    Jan 1, 1970

    When I've written about kids and money in the past, I've always emphasized the importance of teachable moments--everyday tasks and events that let you slip in a lesson about managing money without your kids even real­izing it. And the coronavirus pan

    2 min read

  • Article

    The First Home Super Saver Scheme

    Jan 1, 1970

    The federal government’s first home super saver scheme allows first timers to use their super to save for a deposit. Its potential tax benefits and investment earnings may help you enter the property market sooner. If you haven’t previously owned a h

    1 min read

  • Article

    Game, Set, Match

    Jan 1, 1970

    Game, Set, Match
    1 min read

  • Article

    4 Ways to Share Your Money Smarts with Kids

    Jan 1, 1970

    Do you know anyone who's struggling with managing their personal finances? You probably do. One in 4 adults (25%) do not pay their bills on time, and almost 1 in 3 millennials (32%) feel not at all or not very knowledgeable about how their credit sc

    2 min read

  • Article

    To Succeed, Small-Business Owners Need to Put Their Own Finances First

    Jan 1, 1970

    In today's rapidly changing and unpredictable economic landscape, small businesses are under constant pressure. This entails planning for the future or any surprises along the way. No one could have predicted the worldwide spread of COVID-19 and the

    3 min read

  • Article

    On The Brink Of Bankruptcy

    Jan 1, 1970

    According to some estimates, he owes more than $1 billion (R15,5bn) on his many properties and golf courses. Most of this debt is due to be repaid within the next four years and if he can’t find a way to refinance it, he might have to sell off his re

    1 min read

  • Article

    Money Matters

    Jan 1, 1970

    Money Matters
    1 min read

  • Article

    Putting The Personal Into Finance

    Jan 1, 1970

    Money magazine has really put the “personal” into personal finance for me over the past decade. It’s very easy to get glossy-eyed when you read about, or hear people talk about, personal finance, but your relatable magazine has provided me with actio

    1 min read

  • Article

    Rent Relief: Steps To Take

    Jan 1, 1970

    • Determine your income from employer and/or through any government support, and how long this is likely to last • Consider any savings you can use at this time (excluding superannuation). • Calculate your essential expenses. • Work out how much you

    1 min read

  • Article

    Estimated Tax Payments Are Due Tomorrow

    Jan 1, 1970

    The schedule for paying federal estimated taxes is back to normal this year. In 2020, the first two payments were pushed back to July 15 because of the pandemic. But we're back to the usual estimated tax payment due dates for 2021, even though the fe

    1 min read

  • Article

    On The House?

    Jan 1, 1970

    For a family of four, you must have an income between $22,550-$37,565. You must be willing to provide 350 hours of “sweat equity” toward building your Habitat home and/or other Habitat projects. You must attend homeownership training classes prior to

    1 min read

  • Article

    Meet The Writer

    Jan 1, 1970

    ANDREW MEGSON is executive chairman of My Pension Expert, the UK’s number one Advised Retirement Income Specialist. Founded in 2010, My Pension Expert specialises in providing independent advice to UK consumers about their pension plans, and arranges

    1 min read

  • Article

    Beat The Debt Burden

    Jan 1, 1970

    Beat The Debt Burden
    2 min read

  • Article

    Insurance Cover Is Standard

    Jan 1, 1970

    When you join MySuper or any other super product, you may get a minimum level of insurance cover. This standard usually comprises death and TPD cover, although some funds also include income protection cover. The cost and amount of this cover varies

    1 min read

  • Article

    Buying your FIRST HOME

    Jan 1, 1970

    Buying your FIRST HOME
    2 min read

  • Article

    Her Way In The World

    Jan 1, 1970

    • Digital • Technology • Improving service delivery • Cost reduction • NPA reduction • Risk management Over the years, she worked across forex, treasury, retail operations, investment banking and human resources. Also did a stint at the bank’s New Yo

    1 min read

  • Article

    Your Questions Answered

    Jan 1, 1970

    Your Questions Answered
    1 min read

  • Article

    Busi Selesho’s Tips On How To Work Together As A Couple To Get Out Of Debt.

    Jan 1, 1970

    Acceptance and self-awareness. When a couple has accepted they are in debt and are collectively ready to deal with the problem, then 70% of the work is done because debt is often a symptom of what is going on in the background. Some people go to grea

    1 min read

  • Article

    No Worry Over Money

    Jan 1, 1970

    No Worry Over Money
    1 min read

  • Article

    Houses Of York

    Jan 1, 1970

    It's worth about $51 million, but Fergie and Andrew paid just $1.8 million to Her Majesty to live in the sprawling country estate. The couple's marital home was suspiciously purchased for $5 million more than the asking price in 2007 by a Kazakh olig

    1 min read

  • Article

    Top Tips For Managing Divorce And A Mortgage

    Jan 1, 1970

    • Communicate with your lender, let them know what’s going on and maintain repayments as best you can, but if you’re struggling, contact its hardship teams as soon as possible. • Without blocking your spouse from accessing money, perhaps quarantine s

    1 min read

  • Article

    Financial Planning

    Jan 1, 1970

    Financial Planning
    1 min read

Related categories

Reviews for The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book

4.5/5

2 ratings1 review

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • 5/5
    Very informative understandable and realistic to my age group

Book preview

The Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s Book - Howard Davidoff

Introduction

BACK IN THE EARLY part of this century, young Americans were growing up in a world where the only message they received about money was how to spend it and acquire as many material items in as short amount of time as possible.

Though the advertising media initiated this message, it was also confirmed by the spending and saving patterns of the baby boomer generation—a generation that grew up with parents who served as a counterweight to the advertising media. The baby boomers were told that if you really wanted something, you should save up for it, and that only a fool would go into debt because of unnecessary spending. Sure you might take out a mortgage to buy a home or an automobile if you needed one to get to work, but that was it. The old furniture would do until you saved up to replace it, vacations were just a drive away, and entertainment consisted of visiting with friends and family. In order to get the things they wanted when they were young, the baby boomer generation worked for them.

Then they grew up and adopted the attitude that they deserved to acquire material goods now and worry about paying for them tomorrow. All of a sudden, the world of money changed. Easy credit became available, and saving was a sucker’s game. Succeeding generations, people who are now in their twenties and thirties like you, entered into a world of buy now and pay (if you can) later.

This book is an attempt to inject a little fiscal sanity back into the equation, and to give you an alternative point of view to the mainstream notion that you should pay everybody else before yourself. This book will show how to use debt in a way that makes sense, and how to curtail frivolous spending caused by impulse purchases made by clicking a mouse, using your cell phone, or watching an infomercial. You will be introduced to the concepts of budgeting, compounding growth and income, making credit cards work for you rather than the credit card issuers, acquiring transportation and living space, and understanding the financial consequences of marriage and living together. This book will also give an overview of the biggest obstacles you will face on the road to accumulating meaningful wealth such as inflation and taxation, and will address retirement planning, estate planning, as well as insurance options.

As a person in your twenties or thirties, time is your greatest ally. The earlier you establish a long-range financial plan, the better off you will be. Acquire good financial habits now and you will reap the rewards for decades to come!

CHAPTER 1

Setting Goals:

Your Financial Road Map

All successful organizations have short- and long-term goals and a written plan for reaching them. If you want to be financially successful, so should you. The first steps are to determine your financial status today and then decide what you want to achieve for your future and how you’re going to accomplish it.

Why Financial Goals Are Important

You wouldn’t start out on a long trip into unfamiliar territory without a road map, yet many people go through life without a concrete plan for their financial future. In fact, most people spend more time planning a single vacation than they spend on financial planning. The road you take to financial freedom can lead directly to your destination or to a dead end. Specific financial goals and written plans for meeting them help you focus your efforts on the end result.

Starting in your twenties is a huge advantage. If you invest $5,000 at the age of twenty, and it earns 7 percent interest per year, at retirement (age seventy) it will total over $147,000. The same amount invested at the age of forty would total less than $29,000.

Goals are like the wheels on your car; they keep you moving in the direction you want to go, and you won’t get very far without them. If you haven’t already started planning for your future, now’s the time to begin, no matter what your age.

Saving and investing in your twenties will give you the most powerful financial tool available: time. In fact, the smartest thing you can do in your twenties is save and invest. Ultimately, you’ll have to save and invest a lot less money at a time and will still come out far ahead of the person who starts a decade or two later. As the saying goes, Most people don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan. Without planning, even the best of intentions lead nowhere. Start mapping out your route now. Your entire future depends on it.

Calculating Net Worth: Your Financial Snapshot

As with any road map, before you can determine how to get from here to there, you need to know where here is. Where do you stand financially? Answering this critical question is the job of the net worth statement.

Your net worth is the difference between all the things of value that you own and all the debts you owe—or in financial terms, your assets minus your liabilities. Your net worth statement is a list of each of these items and their current value or balance.

Why You Need a Net Worth Statement

The net worth statement gives you a snapshot of your financial condition at this moment in time. You need this information in order to effectively set the financial goals that you’ll be working toward, assess your progress along the way, and make adjustments, using the important clues gleaned from updating your net worth statement on a regular basis. It will also come in handy when applying for a mortgage, credit card, or car loan.

Sometimes people avoid making a list of their debts because they’re afraid they won’t like what they find or they believe they already have a good gut feel for their overall financial picture. However, burying your head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich won’t get you far, and gut feelings can be way off the mark. Not having a handle on your financial condition can seriously hurt you in a time of crisis, such as a job loss or disability, and it’s difficult, if not impossible, to plan for the future if you don’t know where you are today.

How to Prepare a Net Worth Statement

Start by listing all the things of value that you own, even if you owe money on them, such as your house and car. Use their full market value as of today. The balances of the loans related to these assets will be included in the liabilities section, so your equity in the assets you list won’t be overstated. For bonds, stock options, and retirement accounts, use the current value, not the value at maturity or the value on the date you’re fully vested. You should receive statements showing the current value of your accounts from your employer for retirement accounts and from your broker for bonds. The human resources department where you work can help you determine the current value of your company stock options if you’re lucky enough to have them.

List only those life insurance policies that have a cash value. Most life insurance policies are provided by employers and are term policies good only for the time you’re employed by that company. These are not considered assets. If you’ve purchased cash-value life insurance from an agent and you’re unsure of the current cash value, she should be able to help you determine the amount you would get if you cashed it in today. Use that amount for your net worth statement.

For cars and other vehicles, use the Kelley Blue Book value, which is the estimated price the car would sell for if sold privately to another consumer or to a car dealer. You can look up Kelley Blue Book values