As soon as you hit 20, and perhaps even before this, you should be taking your money more seriously. A recent report emerged which stated that the majority of people in their 30’s have less than $1000 in savings. That’s crazy but it’s not hard to understand why. Most are struggling with the bills and often living on credit. Any money they do have goes towards paying off their loans.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. If you make the right decisions now, you’re going to be set for the future. So, let’s explore the key steps that you should take right now while you’re young.

Start Budgeting

One of the biggest issues that you will have in your twenties is making sure that you have enough money left over at the end of the month to save a substantial amount. The best way to ensure this is to budget wisely. Budgeting is easy when you know-how. You just need to make sure that you know how much you are earning and then subtract any bills that you have coming out of your accounts. This could include anything from the energy bills for your home to things like car insurance. You should aim to save half of what you have leftover after you budget for bills. If this is less than you hoped for then it’s time to start thinking about how you can be a little more frugal. There are a lot of ways to do this.

For instance, you can think about going green at home. Alternatively, you might want to save money by cost comparing more of your purchases. You can do this with websites available online that allow you to compare costs in just a few minutes.

Look At Small Investments

Once you start budgeting, you then need to think about the small investments that most people will be able to afford. An example of these types of investments would be penny stocks. Penny stocks are great because they have the potential to earn you an absolute fortune.

However, you will still need to do your research to ensure that you are making the right decision with your investments. This isn’t the only affordable investment option of course. You can also think about something like forex. Forex is great because you can invest as much or as little as you like and it does have a relatively short learning curve. So, you can get started and begin earning almost immediately.

Think About Property

Ideally, you should make sure that you are jumping on board the property ladder as quickly as possible. Now to do this, you will need to be saving a sizable amount each month. You’ll need to make sure that you have at least a few thousand in savings. You can then explore government subsidies to help make a property more affordable. These are available on the market and are well worth exploring.

If you are interested in property investments then you are going to need to check out possibilities like a CIMB home loan. There are lots of different loans available and you need to ensure that you find one that matches your financial requirements.

This isn’t the only struggle of investing in a property of course. You’ll need to decide what to do with it once you buy it. A rookie mistake would be to live in it. Instead, you should treat it as a purely financial investment and either rent it out or sell it on. It’s your choice which direction you take here.

If a property is too expensive to invest in for you then there are still options worth exploring that can help you access this possibility sooner rather than later. For instance, you might want to think about buying a property with friends or family members. Buying in a group can significantly lower the risk and ensure that an investment like this doesn’t get too large for you to handle.

You could also think about part ownership of a home. Deals like this can be tricky to get right but it is a quick and more budget-friendly way to get your foot through the door, so to speak.

Start Looking At Pensions

As soon as you have a stable income, it’s vital that you start looking at private pensions and putting money towards this. 30 is the absolute latest that you should start saving for your pension, particularly if you want a happy retirement. You have to guarantee that you don’t end up with nothing once you are unable to earn a permanent income. There are lots of mindsets about how much you should be putting towards your pension. But we recommend that you aim to save a couple of hundred at least. This is a strong starting point, to begin with.

High-Interest Savings

Once you do start to earn a solid amount of savings each month, it’s worth exploring high-interest savings accounts. The right options here will guarantee that you can get your money to work for you without you even needing to think about it. For this to work, you need to be saving about 500 each month. If you are struggling to do this, then you should think about starting a side hustle. You can then pour all the money you earn from this into your savings account.

We hope this helps you understand everything that you need to think about when you are sorting out your finances in your 20’s. Your main aim here should be to build up your money so that you can have a comfortable and happy retirement that you are sure to enjoy. Remember, your retirement should be some of the best years of your life. But this is only going to be the case if you make the right decisions now. If you don’t do this, then you could find that the years you spend retired are a constant struggle to find the cash you need.