The field of finance refers to the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated.

Personal finance refers to the monetary decisions of an individual or family unit. Personal financial decision may involve paying for education, buying insurance, e.g. health and property insurance, investing, financing durable goods such as real estate and cars and saving for retirement. Personal financial decisions may also involve paying for a loan and estimating ways to become mortgage-free. Becoming debt-free is another key component of personal finance planning.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still

With all of the recent ups and downs in the financial markets, it’s easy to get discouraged about your own financial situation. Just as with achieving a balanced diet or maintaining a regular exercise regimen, getting your financial house in order is easier said than done. Though you can deal with various personal financial issue with a good personal financial planner and calculator. This includes creation of a detailed strategy tailored to your specific situation, for meeting a your specific goals.

Solution of the following common questions, which generally revolves around personal finance, will definitely get you on the road to financial recovery.

Future Requirement : How much money will be needed by an individual (or by a family) at various points in the future?

Source of Money : Where will this money come from (e.g. savings or borrowing)?

Risk Factors : How can you protect yourself against unforeseen events in your life, and risk in financial markets?

Proper Utilization of Family Assets : How can family assets be best transferred across generations (bequests and inheritance)?

Taxes : How do taxes (tax subsidies or penalties) affect personal financial decisions?

Credit : How does credit affect your financial standing?

What is the Plan : How can one plan for a secure financial future in an environment of economic instability?

The last (and no way the least) question is the most important one. To improve your financial fitness, you should take few financial decisions. And before that you must understand how each financial decision is going to affect the other areas of finance.

Here are few simple strategies everyone should follow :

Saving Money : optimize your expenditure. Try to switch your account to one of the many checking a/c that allow your money to work for you such as an E*Trade Max-Rate Checking Account (2.9% APY on accounts over $5K) or an HSBC Online Payment Account (2.25% APY, open an account with as little as $1) etc. Just do a little bit market research. And also find out a good savings a/c that pays you well (i.e. 3-4% or above)

Be Debt Free : Do have a detailed idea of your credit score and make sure that your credit score is correct. Always make sure on-time payment. Late-fees can cost you many dollars. You can always consult many credit repair professionals and put your question in different online credit repairing forums. These forums are sometimes proved really helpful.

Insurance : Protect yourself with insurance. You should always take care of few points like your age etc. And do  get other insurances like car insurance, theft insurance, fire insurance etc. These will help you in time any mentioned disaster. If you have a family you need life, health and disability insurance coverage.

Investing : Start investing. Ask your employer to automatically deduct from your paycheck to mutual fund a/c. But before investing do some market research and grow the money in an index fund. Invest some amount in a tax-deferred account. IRA, 401k plan are good. These are better than regular taxable accounts.

There are many ways you can save your money. There are lot more to discuss. I’ll discuss them gradually.

Thank you for reading my blog.