41 - Learn personal finance  
and develop good financial habits for your life

Reason for this Goal to learn personal finance:     Once you graduate from school and start living on your own, your ability to understand and manage your money will have a massive impact on the rest of your life.   If you’re like most people, you’ve had very little formal education on how money works and how to manage it.  You may be craving financial advice. Either you learn to manage your money, or money will manage you. 

Whether you’re still in your teenage years or you’re in your middle years, it’s not too late to understand money, but the earlier you learn is definitely better.  Make it an important goal to learn about money and how to earn and grow it.  

Learn personal finance and topics to focus on:

Some of the things you will want to learn personal finance about include:

1.       Different types of income - Know the difference between employment income and passive income. There is a big difference in working for a pay cheque and trading your time for money, versus generating passive or residual income. 

2.       The magic of compound interest - Compound interest is considered one of the wonders of the world. Saving money at an early age is one of the best habits you can do to generate serious wealth.  

3.       Your credit rating and why it’s important - With a good credit rating, you can use it to obtain "good debt" to build your net worth.

4.       The difference between good debt and bad debt - There is a big difference between good and bad debt. Bad debt will keep you poor.  Good debt will make you rich.  Good debt is in buying things that will go up in value (like Real Estate and investments).  Bad debt is buying cars and material possessions that go down in value the minute you buy them.

5.       Mortgages and what you need to know about them - A mortgage allows you to leverage a small investment to purchase real estate, with your bank being a partner in your wealth development.

6.       Credit cards and how to use them properly - Always pay off your credit cards each month.  Use them wisely to build your credit rating and collect points! 

7.       Taxes and some common tax strategies - Taxes are not all that bad. They are the price we pay to live where we live.  The more tax we pay, the more money we are earning and that is a good thing!  

8.       The best way to grow (invest) your money - There are many ways to successfully invest your money. Understand what you think will work best for you, after doing lots of reading and talking to successful people.

9.       Why you must spend less than you earn, and avoid excess materialism - Spending too much money on excess materialism is the fastest way to limit your financial future. Don't do it.  

10.   The tools to help you track your money - There are simple tools (like spreadsheets) and applications to track your spending habits, your investments and your wealth portfolio.  Learn one of them now. 

This goal is not to be taken lightly.  The sooner you learn personal finance and develop good financial habits by learning about these principles, the better.  It could mean the difference between you retiring broke or as a millionaire.  There are hundreds, and possibly thousands, of books, teachers, and websites devoted to this.  The truth is that most people do not have strong financial literacy.  Don’t let that be you.   

Suggested Goal(s):    Read a book on developing good financial habits and learn personal finance.
Your Outrageous Goal:  Teach your family and friends how to learn personal finance.

Return to financial goals. 

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Last updated: January 25, 2020