You’ve heard it before – invest in your future. That’s all well and good, but where do you even start? Terms like “brokerage account, tax liability, 401K, mutual funds, ETFs,” and so many more, might seem daunting or confusing. Do any of these ring a bell?
In this article, Dan Calugar will share some tips on prioritizing your investments and optimizing your money in the process.
Why Prioritize Investing?
One of the most challenging things about investing is knowing where to start. You might have a 401K available through your job, or you might be setting out to invest a little bit of savings for your family.
When you are determining when, how, and where to invest, it can be helpful to prioritize your investments and take an approach based on your goals for the future. Prioritizing how you will invest and when can make a significant difference in helping you reach your financial goals.
Where Do You Start?
One of the easiest ways to start preparing for your future financial goals is to be part of your 401K plan through your employer. If your employer doesn’t offer a 401K plan but has an alternative option, that could work too.
This is where we recommend you start with prioritizing. Most of the time, the funds come out of your paycheck before taxes, and you won’t even notice. Plus, many employers offer some sort of match, so you get free money added to your contribution.
Start an Emergency Fund
Next, we recommend that you build an emergency fund. This might take some time to build up, but ultimately, you want to reach the point where you have approximately 3-6 months of living expenses in the fund. You will want to have a portion of your emergency fund available as cash, but as you continue to build your savings, you can start to invest in that with long-term goals.
Tax Advantages
There are certain investments you can make that have significant tax advantages to them. One such investment is the Roth IRA. This is a retirement fund, but it allows you not to have to pay taxes when it comes to using those funds, so it saves you tax money in your retirement years.
Plan for Goals and Future
Now, consider the future and any goals you might have for the future. It’s time to start saving and investing for those things. Consider setting up college savings investments for your children. Maybe you want to work towards purchasing a house or even saving for a big family vacation. All of these goals are in the future, and they should be a part of your overall plan and outlook, depending on where they prioritize for you.
As you consider prioritizing your investments to optimize your money, keep in mind all of your goals and all of the available options. Work smartly to work towards the financial future that you want.
About Daniel Calugar
Daniel Calugar is an experienced investor with a background in business, law, and computer science. As a tech enthusiast, he became interested in computer science early on and briefly pursued it before obtaining degrees in business and law. Dan Calugar developed a passion for finance while working as a pension lawyer. He leveraged his technical skills to build computer programs that would analyze vast amounts of data and explore trading strategies to identify more worthwhile investments, allowing him to achieve success as an investor. When he is not working, Dan commits much of his time to travel with his life partner and family or supporting the Angel Flight Organization.
