My financial journey is well documented on this blog from learning how to pay off student loan debt, learning being in debt is not cute and sharing how zero budget method changed my financial outlook. As I grow my business and grow as a person my thought process about being financially independent has drastically changed. As more women and men embark on the journey of launching their business here are three monthly financial investments every business owner needs to make.
Emergency Savings
If you take nothing else from this article, please open a savings account for emergencies. Too many times I see women put in a bad position and not knowing how things will work out. For the longest, my dad was my emergency savings account which is not really a plan or an account. Finally, it hit me that I needed to be prepared. Saving my first $1000 wasn’t hard but it was like money is sitting there I can spend it. See, I am a spender not a saver. If you’re single and a spender please marry a saver, you balance each other out. One of my clients who is Las Vegas got back with her estranged husband for awhile everything was great. Then things turned sour, her and the kids were kicked out of their places. Thank goodness she listens and had emergency funds to provide her a new place and furnish it. What truly opened my eyes to saving was reading, The Richest Man In Babylon. The book really taught me paying myself first is how I truly build wealth. Simply taking 10% of what you make a month and put it into a savings account
Retirement Account
Saving for retirement is something I recently started doing. For the longest it was not a thought of mine at all. You see some many money guru’s tell you to get out of debt before starting to save for retirement. Most individuals are working a 9 to 5 not self employed. So, they have a company retirement plan that makes it easy to match and more. Only person who can match my monthly contribution for my ROTH IRA is myself. Once again, this is something I researched in depth by doing what a normal millennial does by searching on Pinterest. Yes, it was broken down into terms I could personally understand. The maximum contribution I can do yearly is $5,500. When you break that down by twelve months thats $458 a month. If that is not a figure you can do think about the simple $100 deposit. Something is better than nothing.
Life Insurance
As an African American, the news in recent months has showed me how little my life is valued by some people. What it has also showed me how ill-equipped most families are when its time to bury someone unexpectedly. We plan our kids birthday parties, prom outfits, photos in the Bluebonnets and more but we do not prepare to meet our maker. This is something that we must plan for. Very thankful that my father got life insurance on me at a young age. My policy covers burial and provides my family money to cover debts I might have. You can get life insurance as little as $300 a year. Thats a small financial investment to make sure your family has no worries when you past. Please do research to determine which types of policies are best for you. Personally, I consulted my lawyer to learn what policies she has for her family and why.
If you’re looking to build wealth it is important that you save at least 10% of your monthly income, plan for your retirement by start contributing now verse later and finally preparing for when you’re gone by making sure your family will be okay.
