How to strengthen your financial security

Financial security is the biggest concern among the world’s population. It also is the worry that keeps most of us up at night too.

Lots of people believe that having a good paying job and a regular income translates to financial security. But, it’s not secure at all. In the grand scheme of things, a job is only temporary when permanent contracts are capable of being broken, i.e. a business going bust or unfair dismissal.

Money ultimately makes the world go round. Below we’ve put together some tips on how to keep your hands on as much of it as possible. Ways to strengthen your financial security

Start an emergency fund

This is a great way to strengthen financial security. Save as much as you can. Nothing makes you feel more confident than having a reliable safety net. You can achieve this by reducing expenditure or creating a savings account.

It’s worth having at least three months of living expenses saved up at all times. This guarantees that if you ever find yourself out of work or struggling to pay bills, you’re covered. Just being covered for that amount of time means that you have strengthened your financial security. Check out this handy Emergency Fund calculator. 

Learn to budget

You cannot save up without budgeting first. Budgeting is where you take into account all of your incomings and outgoings each month. Next, you need to write down what you can and cannot live without. More often than not, you’ll have to make sacrifices. But if it helps you reach financial goals, then it will be worth it.

One great way to work out your budget is to use a Budget Planner. Grab as much detail as possible about your income, spending, bills and get started. You can write it down on paper, use a spreadsheet or turn to the App Stores where you’ll find a number of free apps dedicated to budgeting. 

Every penny counts

People mistakenly think that if a purchase comes under a certain amount, that it doesn’t count. It could be £5 or £10, or whatever you deemed an unnoticeable amount. These purchases are easily forgotten, but what if they happened every single day? Everything adds up eventually. Ensure that you add room for these small purchases in your budgeting plan.

Often people find it hard to motivate themselves about saving. You’re halfway there once you’ve decided to set money aside. Don’t worry if you can’t commit to save straight away. Keep a target date to start saving and stick to it. One of the best ways to save is to pay money into a personal savings account every month. Check with your bank for more information.

Be proactive

Many of us believe that we have our entire life is planned out. We’re confident that income levels will increase as we age and that we can rely on job security, take-home pay and that our bills will remain consistent throughout the years. Growing older with more experience doesn’t automatically mean that you will earn more. Having multiple streams of income and investments earning you money, the more secure you’ll feel.

Active income is when you do work and are paid for that work. If you work at Nando’s, you’re paid for the hours you work. If you work in an office, you may not clock in and clock out but you are paid based on the work that you do. If you do nothing, you will no longer be paid.

Passive income is when the payment is not directly tied to active work. Interest and dividends are prime examples of passive income. Typical passive income sources are front-loaded with active work, for which you are paid a small amount, while the bulk of the income comes later.

Don’t mistake passive income with zero work. It still involves work.  it’s just that your income is not directly tied to the hours worked. Anyone who owns rental properties knows that it’s considered passive income but there is quite a bit of work involved. The work is front heavy but if you are lucky, you can collect rent checks without incident for many months before having to do work.

Technology can save us

Technology has quickly worked its way into every area of our lives, our investment portfolios and (mobile) wallets. Given the plethora of mobile banking services and budgeting and investing apps, you likely have at least one (if not more) financial tools at your fingertips. Indeed, financial technology (FinTech) is growing at a healthy clip, with a whopping $31 billion invested in the space in 2017, according to a recent industry report from consulting firm KPMG.

Gold, as an investment, has been respected as a safe store of wealth for thousands of years. It’s always been the best long-term way to protect wealth for you (and your kids). It has historically held its value over time, through wars and other crises. And unlike digital assets, it can’t be erased or hacked.

With Goldex, we are reinventing gold ownership. We make it easy for you to invest in physical gold through an easy-to-use app that gives you total control and flexibility to buy and sell whenever you want, helping you to stay informed. Whether you’re an expert investor or just starting out, we pride ourselves in giving you a great trading experience, making our smart technology work for you, finding the best available prices every time. With Goldex you get more.

 Important disclaimer: this document is not an official research report and the views expressed in it are those of the authors. The authors are not registered research analysts and there is no assurance the trends mentioned will continue or that the forecasts discussed will be realised. Gold as a commodity is not a specified investment for the purpose of giving advice under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, therefore, this it does not give rise to rights to claim compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.