Because there are so many people trying to give you advice. And because every situation is different. And because rules of thumb do not apply to everyone equally. The best way to get financial advice is to do it yourself. Make your own decisions. You don’t have to rely on a financial advisor to improve your life.
Seriously, think about it for a minute. Who knows the most about you, your family and your financial situation? You do! And who has your best interests in mind? You do! So who should give you the most unbiased and genuine financial advice? That’s right, you should!
That’s not to say you can’t ask or even pay for financial help from a financial advisor. But when you do see a financial advisor or other type of planner, keep in mind that they are motivated by making money for their services or for the amount of money you give them to manage. They may mean well and they may even have great ideas that will help you, but it is ultimately up to you to make the decision as to how to manage your money.
In my opinion, everyone should be educated to at least a basic level about how to manage their finances. Kind of like learning how to drive a car. Everyone does it differently, but everyone is required to learn the rules, practice driving, and take a test to make sure you know what you’re doing.
If you are serious about getting useful and free financial advice then it is up to you to do some homework. Spend some time learning about the basic financial concepts. Most people spend more time researching and planning their vacation each year than they spend learning about and managing their money. With just a little curiosity and some focused learning, you can become a more than apt money manager for yourself.
If you’re looking to get started, you’ve come to the right place. Articles like this with free financial advice can get you started thinking about what you need to do to learn to make better financial decisions.
The next steps should be to learn a little about how interest rates and rates of return work. Figure out which investments you should utilize to help you plan and reach your retirement goals. Learn about the compounding effect of money and why it matters more than anything else. And learn to make investing habitual and automatic. And most importantly, don’t put it off.
The difference between starting today and starting 7 years from now is a 100% change in your savings account. That’s because at long term normal investment return rates, your money will double about every 7 years. That doesn’t mean much if you don’t have much saved, but when you are close to retirement and have hundreds of thousands of dollars in your account, it means the world! Seriously consider investing your time and energy into improving your financial advice skills.
If you care to share, drop us a comment with some ways that you have learned to give yourself financial advice for free.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Chris,I absolutely, agree with you that the best way to get financial advice is to do it ourselves and
make our own decisions.We have the best interest in mind and decide how to manage our money.
Let’s do our homework, search and plan our finances.Let’s save in any possible and proper way
we can.
I am very careful, I search and never paid anybody for a financial advise.Saving little here and little there ,I guarantee you that you will have some money to back you up when in need.
Please do not hesitate to get the information about getting cash back from every purchase you make and start organizing your financial situation! IT IS SO SIMPLE and FREE!!!
Vasiliki Karakatsanidis recently posted..Best Cash Rewards Cards
Yeah right, experience does teach a lesson one can never forget. So, it’s advisable to try and learn from whatever financial lessons it may give to you.
Nicole Minix recently posted..How Can I Write a Compare and Contrast Essay On Sports?
A very nice post on financial issues. The experience is the best teacher when the issue in hand is finance. Thanks for some wise lessons.
Aayna recently posted..Fitness Trainer Bondi
With so much financial advice to be had out there of differing degrees of reliability. I find the best thing to do is to pull together all the info I can on a subject go through it carefully and then make a controlled decision myself. Lee
Lee recently posted..How to get more miles per gallon.
You are right! No one can make us save or responsibly manage our finances except us. Financial advisers or other guides can be just a milestone. They are just a blueprint, that if you don’t follow them, they will have nothing to do to you for your financial success. I really agree it all starts within us. If we have nothing to do to help our selves saving money, then financial advisers are just our additional expense.
Chris, I couldn’t agree more with you on the subject of advice for personal money management. Ultimately YOU are the only one with your interest at the forefront. All advice given, whether free or paid for needs to be evaluated as to it’s relevance to your own circumstances. All advice given from others, even by those with the best intentions, will be tainted by personal experiences and, or personal goals and agendas. Most financial advice is given in good faith and is accurate to the best knowledge of those giving it, but you are the only one who can say it is best for you. The best thing to do is to learn as much as you can and use the most appropriate advice you can find to make informed money management decisions. It is YOUR MONEY. Rob
Rob recently posted..9 Basic Money Management Tips, Organise Your Money
I agree 100% that every financial situation is different, and because of that, it’s always a great idea to learn and research different investments and financial concepts. Thanks for sharing your advice!