The Goals of Personal Finance Education
What is personal finance? Personal finance is also known as personal spending or money management. It is the conscious management of funds that an individual or a household performs over a period of time, taking into consideration different future life events and financial risks. This process includes setting aside a sum of money for emergency and unforeseen expenses, budgeting funds, and monitoring expenditures. Thus, it is considered as one of the most important financial activities and responsibilities of an individual or his or her family.
There are various factors that affect the process of personal finance. They include goals, time limits, personal preferences, and financial objectives. Goals can be defined as what an individual wants to accomplish in a certain period of time. This goal can be financial, academic, social, or cosmetic. A time limit is often set for reaching each goal.
In establishing and maintaining a healthy budget for personal finances, it is important to set aside three key resources. These include resources that will be used in paying for daily living expenses, three accounts that will serve as temporary or long-term savings, and assets that will be used to achieve long-term financial goals. These three key resources should be reviewed periodically by a financial planner to ensure that funds are being spent for the right purposes. The financial planner should also inform clients about their financial status and any changes that have occurred since the last review.
The primary objective of personal finance management is to help individuals or families establish realistic and sustainable financial goals and to achieve those goals. A good personal finance management plan focuses on three main areas: income, savings, and expenditures. All three areas should be balanced and all three areas should be reviewed regularly. Monthly goals should also be established and monitored to ensure that goals are being met. The financial planner also plays an important role in ensuring that clients meet these goals and to achieve future financial goals.
Another goal of personal finance management is debt consolidation. When individuals have a large amount of high interest debt, a debt consolidation loan can be quite helpful. Debt and budgeting also include credit card debt, student loan debt, and any other outstanding debt that cannot be managed on a monthly basis. When a client has a large amount of outstanding debt and cannot consolidate on a regular basis, credit cards can be managed through a debt management plan, which will pay those cards off in full with one affordable payment each month.
A third goal of financial planning is achieving long-term financial success. Retirement is a popular goal among consumers, but not all of them are able to achieve the goals needed to reach their retirement years. As with every other goal, a financial planner educates clients about saving for retirement and teaches them how to save that money for the future. Money that is not used for retirement can be used for things such as a down payment on a new home or a car. With the proper personal finance education, any individual can become successful in their retirement years.