Many of us are young adults worried about bringing in additional income. Plus, several of us are also super unclear about the financial world and everything that we could be doing to keep ourselves financially secure.
Unfortunately, they did not teach us everything we needed to know about the world of money in school, so it is time to take matters into our own hands. Those of us that did not already have an emergency fund are probably not having the best time right now. But during this downtime, we actually have a golden opportunity to really slow down. We can educate ourselves and make money moves to make our future selves secure.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by finances or just want to be better at handling them, no need to worry because we have put together 4 money moves you can make right now.
Start an Emergency Fund
Most of us are not financially prepared enough to have had an emergency fund before the pandemic came into play. But that does not mean that we can’t start now to have our future self’s back. That is why it is important that you create an emergency fund if you haven’t already. This fund will help you take care of emergency expenses like medical bills, loss of income, home repair, etc. Instead of paying for emergency expenses through a high-interest credit car or even taking a loan, you can use your fund to help you out with no hassle.
“By nature, unplanned expenses are unexpected, so the sooner you’re prepared the better off you’ll be when the inevitable happens.”
Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief financial analyst.
You do not have to be super rich or have a bunch of spare change to start an emergency fund. Even if you are only making $65 a week, you can quickly start up an emergency fund using Betterment. Betterment is an online investment platform, but it also allows you to create accounts on there. So it really is an ideal place to auto-transfer maybe $10 a week or month! You will get paid interest on the money you keep in there. Because it will be somewhere you don’t go too often, your funds can grow in peace until a time comes in the future when you will need it.
“Betterment has a singular objective: to help you make the most of your money, so that you can live better.”
Dan Egan, VP of Behavioral Finance and Investing, Betterment
So you may be wondering, how much do you need to save to know that it is enough for a fund? Essentially an emergency fund should be enough to cover at least three to six months of expenses. Now this may seem like a big number for you, but let’s take it slow. Start with small goals first. Maybe you want to reach $500 first and then slowly move up from there. The number you choose to save up to depends on your income and expenses.
Starting an Emergency Fund
- Make a budget (identify where you can save money and cut out unnecessary expenses)
- Decide on your emergency fund goal
- Set up a direct deposit account
- Gradually increase your contributions to your fund
- Save unexpected incomes (tax refund, salary bonus, cash gift, etc.)
- Keep saving even after you surpass your goal
Get an Acorns Account
The world of investing is pretty confusing and daunting to most of us. And that is why Acorns is the perfect option for beginners to get into investing. You genuinely don’t have to know anything about investing when creating an Acorns account.
Acorns is a Robo-investment app that rounds purchases on your card up to the next dollar and invests your change. If you have the wiggle room, you can also set up monthly or weekly transfers so that the app can invest even more for you. Based on your specifications on whether you want high, low, or medium risk investments, it diversifies your investment portfolio for you. And it grows money for you so that you don’t have to worry about anything.
We may be in a recession now, but when the stock market starts heading up again, your Acorns account is probably going to prosper a lot. So definitely get it set up now.
Create Digital Products
Digital products are really time-consuming to create. But once made, they can make money for you on their own forever.
Whether it’s an online course, ebooks, worksheets, graphics designs, or anything else you can think of, creating a digital product is an excellent investment of your time right now.
Start making exponential money on your digital products by first creating them.
Your future self will thank you for putting the time upfront to create a viable stream of income for yourself.
Here are some products you can make:
- Stickers
- Software
- Digital prints
- Videos
- Photographs
- Audio
- Digital art
- Courses
- Fonts
Whatever product you choose to create and sell, make sure you actually enjoy it and that it has some use to your customers. For inspiration you can check out people’s shops on Etsy, Amazon Handmade, Artfire, and so many more.
“If you have something to share, you can turn it into a digital product to sell. You can share your knowledge, talents, opinions, or passion, and potentially make some money along the way.”
Kyle, Maurer, easydigitaldownloads.com
Educate Yourself on Finances
Whether you turn to books, YouTube, or an online course, now is the time to educate yourself as much as possible on finances. We didn’t learn about finances in school. So we need to turn to every resource we can to empower ourselves to be money savvy.
It almost seems like the systems in our life are trying to keep us in the dark about money.
And many of us have a very fearful relationship with our bank accounts. Rip off the bandaid and take accountability for your finances. Improving your relationship with money and learning how to make smart money moves will make you feel like a boss in no time.
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