For example, from these rules it follows that, first of all, it is necessary to solve the problem with housing. Without your own real estate, it is difficult to start a family, survive in old age, etc. Buying an apartment or a house is extremely difficult due to high prices, so you need to acquire living space first of all.

You need to buy housing, which will rise in price in the future. Making repairs is one that will help you realize the apartment as quickly and expensively as possible. Therefore, you should not do design repairs if you are not going to live in this apartment for a long time – when selling, design repairs will not pay off and may even complicate the implementation of the apartment.

On the contrary, spending money on buying an expensive car or traveling is the last thing when basic problems (housing, good education, health) are solved. In the case of a car, you need to look at the operating cost, not just the price of the car. You can “squeeze” yourself out and buy an expensive car – and go broke on its maintenance (OSAGO, CASCO, road tax, expensive parts and service, accessories, etc.).

Where to start solving financial problems?

In addition to the basic rules, there are additional rules and recommendations that will help you become a financially literate person and avoid common mistakes. Below is information that will allow you to start effectively managing your personal funds. For convenience, we have made several blocks for each topic.

Should I take loans?

A loan can be taken in three cases:

For housing.
For the means of production.
For treatment.

You cannot take a loan for a car, entertainment, equipment (if it is not needed for work), clothes, etc. Credit cards should be used with extreme caution or not at all. A new loan can be taken only after the previous one has been paid off. You cannot combine two, three or more credits.

The cost of an apartment and a car

The maximum value of the car should be the amount of income for 12 months. If you earn 40 thousand rubles. per month, the maximum cost of the car will be 480 thousand rubles. Such a car will be comfortable to maintain and will not become a financial burden. Anything that is more expensive, you buy beyond your means.

The maximum cost of housing is family income for 4 years. For example, if you and your significant other receive 40 thousand rubles each, your total income will be 80 thousand rubles. per month. Income for 4 years will be at the level of 3840 thousand rubles. For this money, you can buy a 3-4-room apartment in the region. In Moscow, to buy a home, you must have at least 150-200 thousand rubles. per month of family income.

Financial reserves

Any person needs to have reserves that can be spent in the event of force majeure.

The minimum amount of reserves is 6 months income.
Optimal – income for 1 year.

This amount of reserves will allow you to comfortably cope with temporary difficulties or change your profession if necessary.

If you are planning to have a child, the amount of reserves should be increased. You will not be able to fully work for some time, while your costs may increase significantly due to the addition to the family.

Typical financial mistakes

The basics of financial literacy can help you avoid common mistakes people make. You will not suffer from overwhelming loans and think about how to pay back your debts. Below we have collected the popular mistakes that people with personal finances make:

I spend everything!

You spend whatever you earn. No reserves are formed. Housing problems are solved by attracting a maximum loan, which increases interest costs and lowers the standard of living.

I want – I will buy!

You often buy out of emotion and then don't use the purchased items. Many purchases are made with the attraction of loans, including consumer loans with the highest interest. You do not work for yourself, but for the banks.

I want the best, but I don't need another

You basically want to buy a foreign car without considering buying a domestic car. You need a 3-room apartment right away, but a 1-room one does not suit you. You always want to buy what is not currently available, and you do not buy what you can really afford. Further events can proceed in two ways:

You buy what you want, but on credit, and this loan ruins you.
You put off shopping until later, and as a result, you live worse than you could (you don't buy your own, albeit small, apartment and live with your parents).

I won't live to see retirement

You do not form reserves, because you think that you are far from retirement or that you will not live up to retirement anyway. The problem leads to the fact that a person moves to an extremely low standard of living in old age.

How to improve financial literacy?

Analyze your income and expenses. Check what expenses you can refuse and, accordingly, how much to save. All costs, including small ones, need to be optimized.
Use special programs to fix income and expenses. For example, a very convenient and functional program “Home Bookkeeping” helps to conveniently analyze all income and expenses.
Follow the rules from the article described in the block about the basics of financial literacy for beginners.
Save up money and learn to invest it. In addition to bank deposits, you can invest in bonds, real estate, your own business.
Use loans carefully. Try to pay off your debts quickly and live within your means.

Financial planning and accounting

In addition to the correct approach, it is absolutely necessary to keep records of personal expenses and income, as well as draw up a personal financial plan for the week, month and year. You must definitely learn how to plan your personal budget. This is very useful, once you start doing it, you will be very surprised if you haven't done it before. Whoever tried it understands what I mean.

Today there are many software products that allow you to optimize the management and accounting of personal finances. In addition to the good old EXCEL, you can create an application that will sync on all devices, this is extremely convenient.

Banks

A financially literate person certainly understands all the benefits of the banking system in preserving and increasing money. It is imperative to learn how to extract this benefit for your own purposes and for the benefit of your wallet.

It is necessary to understand that we, as individuals, in most cases do not need loans at all and life on credit (so popular today) is a deliberate and systematic deterioration of our own financial condition, this is a movement away from financial freedom, and not towards it.

But a bank deposit, on the other hand, is a good instrument for preserving and accumulating capital.

In general, you need to understand the essence of the banking business and understand the main levers of interaction with banks.

Additional sources of income

The majority of people who work for hire see their work as their only income and completely reject the possibility of additional cash receipts. But we, as students of financial literacy, need to understand the importance of diversifying the ways to replenish the family budget.

It is imperative to consider the possibilities of passive earnings, as well as savings in case of unfavorable force majeure situations (illness, dismissal, etc.)

Investments

Investments can be classified by risk and return. Which, by the way, most often has a direct dependence on the riskiness of a particular instrument. The higher the risk, the higher the return. For risk management and there is diversification – an increase in the number of instruments to reduce risk.

Practical use

The practical application of the considered principles should not be accompanied by any radical changes in our life, such as dismissal and leaving for our own business. The main thing in all this is to preserve the main source of replenishment of the budget, effectively distributing money and making money at the same time on assets.

There is a popular misconception that the main goal of any commercial bank is by hook or by hook (even by deception) to force a client to take out a loan that is obviously unprofitable for him. This is certainly not the case, large banks are seriously interested in attracting as many truly literate clients as possible. Such a client will quickly understand all the advantages of banking services and will recommend using banking products to all his friends.

The main thing is to understand that the bank is our ally in saving and increasing capital.

Improving financial literacy is an ongoing and ongoing process. To do this, read useful books, study the world of finance, use various opportunities to increase your personal funds.

Let me remind you that on our channel you can always read the latest tips and usefulness for your wallet. Lots of useful information on personal finance management, financial literacy, personal financial planning and achieving financial goals.

If you liked the article, do not forget to like and subscribe to always be aware of the latest news on financial literacy and personal finance.

How to improve financial literacy

To improve the quality of knowledge about the modern economy, you need to process a huge amount of information: bank rules, laws and other regulations … Where to start learning financial literacy on your own?

Goal motivation

How do you learn financial literacy? This can be done if you plan the costs for your desires. For example, if you have long dreamed of buying an expensive mobile phone, start saving 2,000 from your salary per month and about 20% from the sudden income.

Attending special trainings and classes

Some find it more convenient to gain knowledge under the guidance of teachers, so the number of paid courses, trainings and seminars on financial literacy is growing. Give preference to courses from economics universities or real financial advisors.

Most likely, they will cost more, but it is better to overpay than to give a slightly smaller amount to charlatans. If there is no opportunity to attend real classes, pay attention to online courses.

Discussion of the budget

Most often, only one family member is involved in planning expenses. This is not the right approach: everyone should know what and why money is being invested in. Pay special attention to educating children, financial literacy will definitely come in handy for them.

Good habits

Start making plans for your income and expenses, it should include free waste, monthly fees and previously planned large acquisitions.

Next, you should learn to live within your means: give up microloans, as well as a credit card. Send at least 10% of each income to investments, and also start using the services of financial consultants. You will have to pay for them, too, but their help leads to serious savings.

Filtering data

There is a lot of information on the Internet about how to gain financial literacy only hides financial pyramids underneath. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish deception from real advice. They are most reliably obtained in special courses or in literature.

Books and textbooks on financial literacy

Bodo Schaefer's The Path to Financial Freedom provides a mental model for avoiding monetary embarrassment and explains the benefits of deposits, gambling stocks, and equity funds in plain language;
The Richest Man in Babylon is a book by George Clayson that makes it clear that the essence of money has not changed much over the course of several thousand years. The work is suitable for those who want to understand how money works;
“Beat Wall Street” by Peter Lynch explains who and how can make money on Forex, and also explains the principles of the financial markets;
The textbook by Vladimir Avdenin “The ABC of Financial Literacy” is suitable for people who seek to improve financial literacy on their own, while not having a baggage of theoretical knowledge;
American President Donald Trump has long published the book The Art of Making Deals. It describes the intricacies of real estate transactions, building relationships with business partners and the government;
“Taste for Life” is a text by Konstantin Baksht, who, through real examples, was able to explain ways to increase equity capital. The reader who has chosen this book should prepare for a long work with it and with his life;
“Personal financial plan. The instruction for drawing up “Andrey Paranich” is suitable for a wide audience: the author easily and succinctly talks about the intricacies of drawing up a personal plan of spending and income.

Unfortunately, now there are no full-fledged educational institutions dedicated to improving the general literacy of Russians. Therefore, in order to achieve your economic goals, you need to do it yourself.

First, you need to work with your stereotypes and bad money habits, and only then – accumulate a knowledge base and practical skills.

This can be helped by special educational programs, educational literature on financial literacy, as well as advice from specialists in the field of investment.

Learn

Financial (in) literacy radically affects a person's entire life. Each of us every day has to make financial decisions, whether we are ready for it or not: it is on these decisions that our well-being depends, they determine the success or failure of our business and investments.

Financial well-being does not directly depend on which family a person was born in or what his income level is: highly paid actors often waste all their earnings, and children from poor families grow up into wealthy adults thanks to a competent financial strategy. For those looking to close knowledge gaps, we've put together learning resources.

Courses

Personal Finance Management (Higher School of Economics) – a series of lectures by HSE Professor Nikolai Berzon. In them, Nikolai Iosifovich tells in what forms finances accompany a person throughout life and determine his material well-being. Sobering and motivating to think, including about savings for retirement, which for many seems to be something very distant.
Fundamentals of Youth Finance (Novosibirsk State University) – a free course of more than 100 assignments, broken down by levels. By completing assignments that consist of a lecture and tasks on the topic, you can earn points and open access to the next level.
Financial Literacy (4brain) is a free six-lesson course designed to shape financial thinking. Suitable for those who want to change their attitude to money and like to be persuaded and motivated. You will need to pay for a subscription to access the tests, exercises and final exam.
Financial Literacy (Stepik) is a cute course on the basics of financial literacy with child lecturers. Designed for high school students, but often enjoyed by adults as well. Some of the information relates to the Republic of Belarus, but the rest of the material is universal and helps to master or refresh basic knowledge.

Learning Apps

The textbook on financial literacy was developed by the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University. Tests the user for knowledge of the basics of financial literacy and gives detailed instructions from university specialists.
Financial Council is an application and Internet resource developed by the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank to improve the financial literacy of the population. You can adjust the filter by age, so it is suitable for both adults and children from 11 years old. Lovers of reading will like it: “Financial Council” examines the credit histories of writers and their heroes, explains the meaning of terms and contains step-by-step guides for a variety of cases.
Financial Education is a rigorous textbook supplement from the Ministry of Finance. Explains how to manage a personal budget, work with personal savings, understand insurance and lending. Introduces terms from the world of finance and banking and provides useful advice for small business owners and personal subsidiary plots. He offers tests to test his knowledge.

Games

” Interactive Finance ” – a collection of mini-games on financial topics: investing, planning and budgeting, personal savings. Developed within the framework of the project of the Ministry of Finance of Russia to increase the level of financial literacy of the population in cooperation with Rambler Group
Portfolio is an addictive game that gives you practical skills in using financial instruments. The user is prompted to make a financial decision and arguments are put forward for and against. Introduces concepts such as the relationship between profitability and risk, the benefits of diversification, portfolio management.
Finance Park is an English-language simulator in which the player is assigned a certain life situation (education, position, family, monthly income), on the basis of which the user must make financial decisions. Develops skills in budgeting, money management, introduces the concept of savings, costs and financial institutions (banks, insurance).

Control

The first and foremost step to be taken on the road to financial stability is to take a sober look at your own budget through careful accounting of expenses and income. The main enemy on this path is laziness.

Usually people are fired up with the idea to control the financial flow, but after a month they cool down and lose interest in their finances. It's important to hold out until spending control becomes a habit. The good news is that you will see the effect almost instantly: by going out into the light, your costs will magically decrease.

Cost control tools for every taste

Excel spreadsheet. Suitable for those who love minimalism and are ready to regularly enter data into cells.
AbilityCash. A Windows program with many options and a community of fans, many of whom have been using the program for over a decade. Not happy with the design, but impressive in functionality.
CoinKeeper is a popular iOS and Android app. There is a desktop version. Nice, intuitive, it allows you to add expenses by quickly dragging a coin from your wallet to the spending category.
” Zen-mani ” – one more popular app for iOS and Android for those who can not bring himself to make a hand costs. The developers focused on importing transactions from online banks and recognizing checks. There is an option for those who live from paycheck to paycheck: the application shows how much money is left for unplanned expenses.

Get inspired

In order not to lose motivation and train yourself to think about finance in a new way, I recommend subscribing to specialized Telegram channels and regularly reading blogs on the topic.

Post source: lastici.ru