If you don’t know much about personal finance, learning about the importance of an emergency fund or getting tips on how to budget and pay off debt can be invaluable. However, when you’ve got the basics down, it can be harder to find tips that truly help you think about and approach your finances in a new way. You’re already skipping that expensive daily coffee and putting more money toward your retirement, so what else is there? In fact, there are a range of additional things you can do that you may not have heard about.
Using Your Credit Card
It’s likely that most of what you’ve read about credit cards and personal finance is that you should treat them like you would some kind of radioactive material. Maybe keep one around in case there’s an emergency, but in general, you should do your best to avoid using them at all. This remains good advice if you struggle with a spending problem, but if you don’t, using credit cards can actually be a smart financial move. If you can reliably pay off your card every month, then it is worth using it to benefit from such great perks as airline miles or cash back.
Selling Your Term Life Insurance Policy
Do you have a term life insurance policy? Do you still need it? Will you need it for the entire period you’ve purchased it for? People often assume that their life insurance policies, and term policies in particular, do not have any value, but this is not necessarily the case. In some situations, it is possible to sell term life insurance policy to a broker as part of a viatical settlement or life settlement instead of simply allowing the policy to lapse. This can be an excellent way to get more money for retirement or other needs, and you should find out if your policy is eligible for this kind of arrangement.
Consider a Financial Coach
You’ve probably been told before that you should see a financial planner, but have you ever considered a financial coach? If you’ve ever heard of a life coach, think of a financial coach as someone similar, only they focus on your personal finances. This is a person who can give you the individual attention to help you plan and reach your personal goals. They don’t replace other types of financial professionals, and in fact, if you are struggling financially or unsure about your goals, a coach can be a great choice before you graduate to a financial planner. Especially if you didn’t grow up in a household where the adults were teaching children about money, you owe it to yourself to generate some good habits and literacy for yourself.
Tailor All Advice
One confusing thing that can happen when you are looking at financial advice from personal finance perspective is that you may find some that is contradictory, or you might simply find some that doesn’t sit well with you. It’s okay to tailor advice to fit your individual situation. There are pros and cons, but it may be financially savvier to pay off a mortgage slowly and invest the money you might otherwise use to pay it off early. However, if you abhor any kind of debt, it might be psychologically more helpful for you to get rid of the mortgage debt as quickly as possible.