My 11 ultimate financial tips for your career start.
In this article I have compiled the most important financial tips for millenials while starting a career.
In football, the decisive question for every coach is with which eleven players on the pitch he starts the game.
But this article is not about football, there are enough reports about it elsewhere.
Nevertheless, it’s about a starting eleven – your starting eleven: About the eleven most important financial tips you should deal with when starting your career.
My financial tips for your career start
In my opinion, it is very important to be a career starter or a young professional and deal with financial topics. Especially for the so-called millennials / members of the “Generation Y” it is important to actively meet the challenges at an early stage.
This includes – to stay with the picture of the football team – both a strong defensive (= protection against existential risks) and a powerful offensive (= investment with good return prospects).
Below you will find my 11 financial tips for your career start and the first years afterwards:
Tip No. 1
Gain transparency about your income and expenses. Keep a budget book for this. In this way you can keep track of your monthly budget and how much money you still have available.
Tip No. 2
Create a reserve for unforeseen expenses. Open a call money account and set up a standing order. Then don’t throw yourself off track with an additional charge or a car repair.
Tip No. 3
Think about your financial goals. Your savings goals are usually related to your personal life goals. Formulate these SMART and record them in writing. Your most important long-term goal is retirement provision.
Tip No. 4
Take out private liability insurance. In this way, you protect yourself from the risk of having to pay out of your own pocket for large losses caused by you. These can drive you into financial ruin.
Tip No. 5
Think about taking out occupational disability insurance. If you are no longer able to work for health reasons, the statutory reduced earning capacity pension is normally not sufficient.
Tip No. 6
Clarify with your employer whether he pays you capital-forming benefits (VL). If so, make sure you apply for it. It would be nonsensical not to accept the “donated” money and to invest it in a corresponding contract.
Tip No. 7
If you have debts (e.g. student loan, overdraft facility): Pay back your loans. This frees you from the “burden of debt” and (by avoiding interest on loans, especially on expensive overdraft facilities) you will achieve a return that you will usually not achieve on the credit side.
Tip No. 8
Start building up your assets early in order to profit as much as possible from the compound interest effect over the years. A good option is to invest in one or more widely diversified equity ETFs. Take advantage of the opportunities offered by this asset class. Through long-term, regular savings, you can get a nice sum together, and you have the prospect of an attractive return.
Tip No. 9
Open a securities account and set up an ETF savings plan. So you can invest even small amounts in a broadly diversified way at a reasonable price. You’ve started building up your wealth – at low cost and with a high degree of flexibility.
Tip No. 10
Find out about the Riester pension. If you choose a suitable product and conclude a good contract, the Riester pension can be a useful building block for retirement provision – especially if you have children (because of the allowances). You benefit from state allowances and tax deductibility of contributions. Be aware, however, of the long-term contractual relationship and the special features of this type of product.
Tip No. 11
Take the time to inform yourself carefully before concluding a contract and to compare costs. Do not conclude expensive, long-term contracts (e.g. a combination product from Rürup pension and occupational disability insurance). Instead of burdening your yield with high acquisition costs and commissions, invest the saved money cost-effectively.
Conclusion
If you carefully deal with topics from these financial tips at the start of your career and get things moving, then from my point of view you are “well positioned” for the most important financial topics. Of course, you can’t deal with all topics at the same time, but you should tackle them step by step.