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5 Years From Now, You’ll Wish You Followed These Money Tips

The decisions you make today will resonate a mere five years from now. Getty Images

Finances are a funny thing. You need to plan for now and you need to look ahead.

What’s worse is that the decisions you make today can set you up for success or failure just five years from now. So, what should you do now to ensure five-years-in-the-future you likes your financial decisions?

Here are 13 money tips that, five years from now, you’ll thank yourself for following.

Set a Budget and Stick To It

five years budget

The first step to financial success: set a budget and stick to it. No matter how wealthy you may be, proceeding without a budget is a disaster waiting to happen.

The key: Set a budget that’s manageable and sustainable. The latter is likely the most important part because as the proverb (and Jack Nicholson’s character in “The Shining”) says, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

We all know how that ended.

So, make sure you account for every single dollar you earn and include a little bit for fun stuff. Without the fun stuff, your budget becomes a burden and will be destined to die a slow death.

Make a Financial Plan

five year financial plan

In your teens, 20s and 30s, thinking about your future may not be a priority. But it should be prime planning time.

Planning your financial future in your 20s can mean an extra million dollars or more in your retirement savings when you hang up your work attire for good.

The last thing you want to do is suddenly realize you’re 40 and you have no idea how you’ll retire in 25 years.

What’s more, if you start early — before you start making good money — you can get used to living a lifestyle that fits your budget and financial plan. Then, when you start earning more money, just stash that extra cash away like it was never even there.

Saving extra cash instead of significantly boosting your lifestyle may help you retire early.  

Stick It Out With the Stock Market

five years stocks

The stock market is a volatile beast. Sometimes it surges. Sometimes it crashes.

The key to the stock market is to grab those reins and ride that bad boy like a cowboy on a bull. It’s going to do all it can to throw you off with its ups and downs, but if you can last those precious years on that bull, you’ll likely be rewarded for your long-term thinking.

The last thing you want to do is abort your ride the second the market slides a bit. Hang on tight. You’ll likely be happy you did so.

Open a Micro Investing Account

five years micro investing

All this investing talk probably has you wondering where to start. Thanks to your smartphone, you can start with ease.

Numerous micro investing apps allow you to kick off your investing with as little as $5. Plus, many of them, like Stash, make investing even easier by grouping related stocks in easy-to-understand categories, like robotics, green energy and cybersecurity.

This makes investing easy, even for the inexperienced, and it makes it fun because you can easily invest in things you believe in. In five years, you could have several thousand dollars in investments working toward your retirement.