How To Be Money Smart – I Wish I Had Known
The one lesson I wished I had learned years ago was how to be money smart with my finances especially in my early 20s. But like most people, because we’re not generally taught in school unless you studied accounting or financial management major, I let my finances just go with the flow.
However, one of the biggest lessons I have learned albeit the hard way, is that you can always start fresh and begin to build your financial portfolio and move toward a greater financial independence, even if you’re on low income. So whether you’re in your 20’s, 40s or 50’s, regardless of your age, you can start being smart with money and practice smart money management techniques so that you will retire broke.
If you’re getting somehow nervous about the state of your personal and family finances, you’re not alone. I was not. At least not until I started to cultivate smart money habits and learning how to save money and actually saving money.
We all know what an IQ is – our intelligence quotient. Our IQ is a number that reflects our intelligence, ranging from a deficit to genius levels. Refer to this article here if you need brush up on what the different IQ scores mean. Similar to an IQ, our EQ – or emotional quotient – measures our range of emotional genius. Your money IQ measures your knowledge about money, how it works, and how it is managed.
Your IQ, EQ, and money IQ don’t have to be static. They can move from barely there to off the charts. Assessing what you know about money can make a way to learn more or fill in any blanks that keep you from being the genius you were meant to be and being financially free.
Simple Questions to Get You Started and Become Money Smart
How do you rate your money IQ? Where do you begin? Ask yourself these questions to get started:
Question:- On a scale of 1-10, how much do you know about money? You may want to the take the money quiz linked here to find out more if you need help answering this question.
Question:- Do you understand the general principles about how to save money, compound interest, investments, and other ways to make your money work for you? Have you read any how to be money smart books recently?
Question:- As time has gone by, has your wealth increased, stayed the same, or decreased?
Answering these questions can give you a general idea of how much room your money IQ has for improvement. The great news is you can begin to improve your money IQ anytime. Here are some great ways to learn more about money and how it works for you.
Using Existing Tools to Learn How to be Money Smart and Save
1. Use a money management app.
It easier more than ever to start managing your money these day given the myriad of smartphone apps that are readily available online to help you manage your finances. For managing your money to see where it’s going, I would recommend the free MINT app.
2. Follow a money management influencer on social media.
We all love social media, well at least most of us do. One advantage of social media brings is that you can quickly get access to expert financial knowledge by following influencers online. Find a money management influencer and follow them.
3. Read books on wealth and biographies on wealthy people
There is a great amount of wisdom and knowledge that has been nicely put together in books by people who are wealthy. Most of them didn’t start life wealthy but had to build their wealth from the ground up. Books on wealth and biographies on people like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Brian Tracy, to name a few, would certainly give you so much about how to be money smart and improve your money IQ. I have listed some of the at end of this article, that you can pick up from Amazon.com or your favorite bookstore.
4. Sign up for a wealth creation workshop
I wrote this article to help you get started on improving your money IQ. However, it’s not enough. Nothing is better than meeting with like-minded people on the subject of how to be money smart. One great place is to attend a wealth creation workshop. Many are organized throughout the country or wherever you live.
Some are free, others you have to pay to get in. But it’s worth it. Mostly at these wealth creation events, you get the education, direction and on-going support to improve your money know-how and reach your financial goals. You can simply do a Google search for wealth creation workshop and I’m sure you get one that is local to you.
5. Take a community class on finance
There are personal finance classes for adults that would teach you financial planning courses. You would learn how to invest in available investment opportunities. Other prime financial areas such as managing your debt, reducing your expenses, retirement, taxes and all, you can learn and implement the lessons at these classes. Take a look at this list here: 13 Free Classes to Help You Manage Your Personal Finances.
6. Watch videos on YouTube
If none of the above suggestions are a good fit for you or you’re not able to attend any of these, you have still a great free resource: YouTube. There is a plethora of videos on how to be money smart, how to save money with a low income, smart money habits and a whole lot. And these lessons are free.
Below you may want to watch this video by Tom Ferry.
7. Listen to podcasts
My final and certainly not the least advice on how to be money smart is to listen to podcasts on smart money management. If you’re not a reader and you don’t want to watch videos and you still want to develop smart money habits, you can certainly listen to podcasts. You can do so in your car, whilst working out at the gym or home, whilst cooking. This is so that you can make use of that free time and learn something new and beneficial.
How to be Money Smart – My Conclusion and Recommended Books
In today’s world, learning to be money smart and expanding your IQ and EQ is easier than ever. There are many ways to take in new information and increase your knowledge base. Find the right delivery system for the way you prefer to learn. Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. Learning anything new can seem overwhelming until you get to know the concepts and the lingo. Before you know it, your money IQ will be genius level, you would have figured out how to be money smart and your wealth will be obvious.
