It’s Easier Than You Think To Totally Wreck Your Finances August 29, 2016My MoneyOff

When you get your finances right, it feels great. Whether it’s a better paying career, more money in the bank or a big payoff on the stock return, you’re riding high. But getting your finances right can be difficult. Be honest with yourself. Do you always get it right? Probably not. Making mistakes with your finances today can hold you back for life. Let’s take a look at some of the most common problems people encounter.

Too Little Insurance
From time to time, accidents and emergencies happen. And, more often than not, they can end up costing a lot of money. Consider the recent events in Louisiana. Here, thousands of homes were inundated with water. And millions of dollars worth of furniture and belongings were wrecked forever.

Although many people lost their belongings, some lost more than others. Those who just opted for standard home insurance didn’t get flood cover. They had to pay for all their stuff to be replaced. Some people, however, did ask for flood damage to be included. And it’s these people who made it through relatively unscathed from a financial perspective.

Crime
As Mace Law notes, a criminal record can have a significant impact on your career and schooling. If you’ve got a criminal record, you can be disqualified from loans, being employed and being given security clearance. Even if your crime was committed while you were young, a criminal record could stay with you for life.

Here’s the advice. Stay out of trouble, and if you do get into trouble, grab an experienced attorney to fight your case. If you are convicted of a crime, start work immediately to turn that conviction around. Be honest with your future employers about your record and hope that they see your crime as you do – a mistake.

Unplanned Family
Children are just about the most expensive thing that you can have in your life. Estimates of the cost of raising a child from birth to adulthood range between $100,000 and half a million dollars. This is all fine when children are planned. After all, most people have children and some point and manage just fine. The problem comes when children are unplanned. There are two main concerns here. One is, of course, the direct costs of having children, which can run to more than $10,000 a year. The other is the opportunity costs. When parents are looking after children, they can’t focus on their careers. As a result, they lose experience and the chance to earn more in the future.

Being A Bad Employee
Most of your wealth isn’t going to be generated from your offshore investments. It’s going to come from your own work. So it’s critical that you have the best relationships possible at work. That means being diligent and motivated while you’re working. A surefire way to prevent yourself from getting that promotion you want is to be lazy and uninterested in the work you’re doing. This then becomes a self-fulfilling cycle. The lazier you are, the more dull work you get and the more stagnant your career becomes. The bottom line? Get exciting about what you’re doing and use that to move up the ranks.

Photo by Elwynn | Shutterstock

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