How to be Financially Secure

Do you have a job? If yes, then good for you. But did you have any savings? Do you spend almost all of your money during payday? Yes? That's a problem, but we can still do something about it.
Most people, especially young professionals, only thought about having fun. Never did they ever think of saving and preparing for their future.

There are 2 steps for you to manage your money.

1. Save
2. Invest

A lot of people have this VERY wrong idea of saving. They thought that whatever is left from their salary after paying all of their expenses is their "savings." For example, you earn P10, 000 a month, and your monthly expenses reached P9, 999, you only saved 1! What if there are emergencies, can your P1 do something for it? NO!

Savings

Is an expense to your future. For example, you earn P10, 000 a month, and you want to save P1, 000 per month, you must only fit all your expenses in P9, 000 a month. How? Maybe you have to cut off all the unnecessary buyings. If you used to buy Starbucks coffee everyday, why not buy cheaper ones, or those 3-in-1 packs?
And you have to be sure that you don't spend your Savings for something you just want to buy. If you really have to use the money, then make sure you pay for it on the next month. For example, you have to use the P1, 000 from your savings, make sure you give P2, 000 to your savings on the next month.

Saving is when you work hard to earn money. Investment is to let your money work for you.

Investment 

Is something people think that only businessmen can do. There are many types of investment. And you have to start young when you invest for greater return of income when the time has come for you to get it. Getting an insurance is one way of investing. There are many types of insurance that may fit your needs. In that way, you are sure that when something bad happens to you or to your beneficiaries, your insurance is there to back you up with all the expenses. What if nothing happens? You can still get the total face amount of your insurance when it reaches maturity. And no matter how many times you try to count all the money you have been paying monthly/quarterly/yearly for your insurance, the total face amount is still a lot more bigger. But, of course, getting an insurance means you have to be very responsible in paying for it monthly. So if you think you cannot pay the monthly payment it needs, then try to lower your face amount until you are confident that you can pay for it monthly.

Investing your money means you have to give time, effort, and a capital. Time to, at least, check the economic status of your country, effort to read a lot about investments (knowledge is power), capital for the money you need to put in your investment.
What if you don't have the time and effort, but you have the capital, how can you invest? That's where mutual funds come in.

Mutual fund 

Means that your money will be managed by professionals and it is a great mechanism to save and let your money work for you. How much your money will grow depends on the status of your economy, there may be a time that the economy is very low, but do not panic, because the economy will surely rise up again. For example, you joined a mutual fund and invested 10, 000, the economy last year made your investment earn 12%, that means that you earned 1, 200 last year, without working for it! But again, the percentage varies. If you started young, and you stopped working when you turned 65 years old, imagine how many years and how much your investment could have earned throughout those years. So probably, by the time you redeem your shares, the money is more than enough for you to live 20-30 more years of your life without working. Not to mention, your insurance may still be effective up until you're 80 years old, there's nothing to worry if ever you get sick. Isn't that great?

And I would like to tell you, it doesn't matter how big or small your monthly salary is. It's about how much you save, how much you spend and how much you manage your money wisely.