If you were to ask yourself what makes up personal responsibility, what would you include?
In my opinion, one of the biggest is financial responsibility. I realised I made three key adjustments mentally that could be vital for readers to emulate and better train ourselves moving forward.
Firstly, receiving one’s paycheck may be a joyous occasion, but we should mentally divide what each part of the money will go towards – a new computer, bills, savings, to name a few of possibly infinite things. This will give us a quick indicator if we might be overestimating the income we can spend at that point.
Secondly, there will be costs that will be non-negotiable. Determine what those are from the beginning, especially your financial planning. Life will never be risk free, but instead of tolerating all of it at the same time, use key tools like insurance to spread it out to a manageable pace.
Lastly, when putting money aside for the future, there should be three key “piggy banks”.
The first should be easily accessible, for rainy days and sudden costs.
The second is for big ticket items on the horizon – holidays and big down payments fall under here.
The last is for retirement.
For most people who don’t prepare for it at the start, each consecutive day will make it exponentially harder to do so. If you don’t know where to begin, consult your advisors on what would be the best strategy for you. Implement it and stick with it.
By making these the cornerstones of your thoughts when dealing with finances, you will be assuredly more prepared to deal with whatever comes your way.
Financial responsibility after graduation was fine-tuned to:
- Mentally divide one’s paycheck before spending it.
- Accepting the non-negotiable costs especially for those associated with risk.
- Create your 3 key ‘piggy banks’ according to accessibility vs growth.
Jasper Heng
Financial Services Consultant
