Saving money is an essential part of aging. In your 20’s, you’re most likely not thinking about long term financing options, but by the nature of long term saving, it’s best to start planning your future as early as possible. With all the options available to you, it can be overwhelming to think about, but this guide seeks to provide a cursory knowledge of some of these savings methods in order to make that choice an easier one to make. Here’s what you need to know.
Participating Whole Life Insurance
Life insurance is primarily an end of life concern, as the primary goal of life insurance is to provide a payout to your loved ones in the event of your death. When it comes to term life insurance policies, that’s the whole story. However, participating whole life insurance provides a vastly different, long term model of life insurance that has a few benefits. Whole life insurance provides coverage indefinitely, for starters, whereas a term policy is set to expire after usually no more than 30 years. As it pertains to finances, however, whole life insurance policies accrue additional value as you make monthly payments. There are then means of accessing your policy’s value prematurely in order to finance other aspects of your life.
There are many iterations on this model of financing via life insurance, and each of them has their own pros and cons, so doing your own research is always the right choice. The Infinite Banking Concept, or IBC, is one method of using your life insurance as a means of financing, but concerns of the “infinite banking scam” may make one wary of this method. While not a scam, IBC is far from the only option, and it’s not without its risks. Then, there’s Equity-indexed Universal Life Insurance, which increases or decreases in value as the state of the stock market changes. This method is perhaps even more risky, but it also presents the possibility of an even higher payout in the end.
Retirement Funds
Retirement funds serve the important function of providing yourself with income once you have retired and are therefore no longer receiving a salary. Much like whole life insurance, a retirement fund has a primary purpose of protecting a person in their later years, but it accrues value over time and presents an additional source of financing if needed. For both of these reasons, starting a retirement fund as soon as possible is essential. Retirement funds are often a benefit of certain careers, but there are also methods of starting a retirement fund on your own, if needed. Retirement funds also receive interest that further adds to their value over the long term.
The retirement fund will ideally be used to get you through retirement without the need for additional funds. However, carefully managed use of those funds in the meantime can create an even more prosperous environment for retirement by allowing you to fund important and potentially lucrative projects. In much the same way as prematurely accessing your life insurance payout, taking from your retirement fund is a risk, but a risk that could be worth taking if it is appropriately planned.
Investing In Businesses or Stocks
Investing is generally a process by which an individual gambles on the success of a company. On one hand, investing in a business requires a larger sum in order to invest, as the investment is an essential part of a business owner being able to start their business. However, this method will provide the investor with substantial interest if their investment is returned, but the investment can only be returned in the event that the business in question proves successful. On the other hand, investing in stocks requires a much smaller sum, though one can invest the same amount for a great number of stocks, as well. The stock market offers you a portion of the company in question for a price based on the net worth of said company. Likewise, selling your stocks provides a payout based on the same metric. The fluctuation of the stock market is the metric by which you will make a profit or lose money on stock trading, making this method a bigger gamble with potentially smaller stakes. A keen eye for business trends is required in order to profit off of these two methods as a result.
Saving money for the future is an essential part of growing older, but that doesn’t mean that a young person doesn’t need to concern him or herself with finances. Whether you want to work for someone or are freelancing your own business, make sure you know about these types of finances. As the above shows, saving and investing money can only benefit one more if it is done early and often. With these tips, you can explore your financing options moving forward in order to maximize your finances.
