Successful Personal Finance is Boring
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 6:00AM Everyone wants "new" tips on personal finance. Guess what?
There are no new tips.
What has worked for the last 100 years will continue working for the next 1,000. Life is not going to change so drastically that "spending less than you earn" will fall out of style (well, I suppose it already is out of style for a lot of people).
The exact way our finances are handled will probably change. In 20 years or so I'm guessing there will be a lot less cash being passed around. We probably will not have credit cards anymore. Instead, just an app on our phone.
But those differences will not change the principles of sound financial management. It will be following those principles that put you in a better financial position, not following the next financial fad, whatever that may be.
What are those basic principles? I think they are the following:
1. Spend less than you earn
2. Have emergency savings of at least 3 months expenses
3. Pay off all debt
4. Save for retirement
5. Give back
There isn't much more to it than those principles. There are different methods and strategies for accomplishing each, but no matter how you do so, if you follow the above, your finances will be a success.
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