The Most Important Skills

You Must Learn

In Order to Succeed In the Civilian World

 

(Part 6)

 

 

How to become financially smart in the civilian world

 

When you are in the military, you feel financially secure because you know that the military takes care for your financial and medical needs with the help of government funding.

 

The military makes you feel as if are set for life.  Realistically, you are until you decide to leave the military and go on your own.

 

When you are in the military, you know that you are going to receive a paycheck, good healthcare and housing.  Everything you need to live a comfortable life.

 

Nevertheless, what happens after you leave the military?  Is this artificial sense of security helping you or harming you in the end?  What happens when you leave the military and begin your life in the civilian world?  Are you going to be lost, stressed out and unable to cope with the financial stresses that exist in the civilian world?

 

When you are in the military financial counselors teach you to create a budget, encouraging you to live within it and reduce debt. While this is good advice, what happens when you go out into the real world and start your own family?

 

Today there are a growing number of people teaching proven money management techniques. If creating a financial plan becomes too difficult once you leave the military and it is stressing you out, consider obtaining credit counseling. By having a professional review your finances, you can gain a better understanding of your spending habits. Credit counselors can offer suggestions on the best strategy to pay off credit cards and outstanding debts. In some instances, credit counselors can help negotiate with your creditors to reduce interest rates, eliminate late fees or reduce balances.

 

Let us ask ourselves, what is financial security?

 

Financial security is having an income stream of money that can maintain your lifestyle. You want to be able to have enough money to maintain your ideal lifestyle. This does not mean you have to be rich like Trump.

 

Questions to ask yourself:

 

• What it means is that you need to define your ideal lifestyle?
• How much it costs to maintain it?

 

Then after you ask yourself these questions create a strategic financial plan to obtain that lifestyle.

 

Here are some tips to help you set up a strategic plan and get you to the financial level you are looking to achieve:

 

1. Cut your expenses. To afford the items you would like to purchase, start by listing everything that you want to buy in the order you want to buy them. This will help you focus your spending on the things you want the most.
2. Avoid wasting money.   Keep track of your daily expenses for a month. Find out where you spend your money by writing down everything you purchase. You will find out quickly that those small purchases add up fast.  By visually seeing where you are wasting money you can revise your budget to save more money.
3. Create a savings plan. The average American spends more than they earn, so become a money rebel and save money. With a simple investment plan, just by saving $250 a month starting when you leave the military, you could easily live a comfortable life with materialistic luxuries too!
4. Reaching your goals.   You must have focus. You must know what know what you will be required to do. What are your specific plans to get the wealth you desire? Now, identify the obstacles to obtaining your desired wealth and ways you can overcome them.
5. Pay off credit cards.   Not only can credit cards put a whole in your pocket.  It can harm your credit and make it hard for you to purchase a home, car, or real estate in the future.  Bad credit or late payments last a long time on your credit reports so be careful.  Too many credit cards can also do you more harm than good.  Also, many of these credit card lenders charge an absurd amount of financial charges so be careful.

 

Make wise chooses and you should be fine.  As they say on cartoon network, “use your noggers!”