Follow your own financial path

Follow your own financial path
                        

There are plenty of financial gurus who have made millions of dollars helping others with their financial states through formulas, systems and motivational speeches. Some of them don’t even follow their own advice or have any experience, but they knew what to write and how to say it, so they became successful off of that. But not all financial experts are experts. When it comes to financial advice, take everything you hear with a grain of salt. I say that with my articles and writing included. Not everything I write will work for everyone reading it, and that is the reality of it.

If you have ever participated in the stock market, someone you know has a friend of a friend who has a hot tip on the next penny stock to invest in and make your millions. It’s getting worse with social media and everyday investors looking to there for advice. Sometimes it works, but most of the time someone gets burned by the penny stock falling even lower.

Obviously, financial advice doesn’t just include the stock market. There will be opposing views on every facet of the financial world. One guy will tell you to pay off your house as soon as possible, but the next guy will tell you the interest prices are way too low to only sit on one house. He will tell you the exact opposite of the first guy — keep paying your mortgage but buy a rental because now is the best time to buy.

How do we know which advice to take and which advice needs to be blown off? It’s hard keeping track of everything that’s thrown at us, and sometimes we decide being dormant is the better option because we become so overwhelmed.

The best way is to research what you hear and experiment on yourself. I’m not talking casual “browse Google for five minutes and call it a day” research. I am talking about in-depth, time-consuming research.

Look online at what other people who have used the advice are saying. Ask people in your life who have used it; they will give you the truth. It will take time, but if the results are there to back it up, there’s no reason not to try the advice. There’s always a reason these people are trying to let their message get out, and 90% of the time it’s because they believe in what they are saying.

I will let you in on a little (widely known) secret: The easiest way to boil down the path to healthy finances is to spend less than you make. Most of us roll our eyes at how elementary this is, but judging by where the consumer debt is in America, it seems like a majority of today’s population doesn’t understand this simple concept. We can take a look at our government and legislators as well. It’s almost embarrassing to think how loosely they follow these rules. I couldn’t even fathom where our country would be if our government would spend less than they make.

Everyone’s financial situation is different. They are like fingerprints or snowflakes, where each is unique and everyone needs to do their own thing, but my first statement applies to every single one. Some need to spend a lot less, some need to find an extra job and others can spend as free as they want to. It all comes down to what works for you personally, and finding that out can be a journey. A lot of it will include trial and error, making mistakes along the way until you find a truly great system.

Holmes County native BJ Yoder is an insurance agent by day and a finance enthusiast by night. This column is for informational purposes only. He can be emailed at benjamin.john.yoder@gmail.com.


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