Building blocks for good finances

Yesterday, I described some of the things that this blog will be dealing with over the next few days.

Today, I want to go over some basics that go along with getting a good base for your finances.

A few years ago, I was selling insurance and one of the main selling points that we were instructed to emphasize was the following:

"Nobody plans to fail...they fail to plan."

Then, we were supposed to go into our spiel about how a hefty life insurance coverage will protest your loved ones in the event of a catastrophic tragedy.

Which basically meant that you kicked off. This is important and will be touched on more in a later blog.

Where I got in a little hot water was not trying to sell the policies that produced the most income, like whole life and universal life.

I usually suggested to my customers that a term policy is the best option. It provides more coverage and is a lot cheaper. That cut down on the premiums and made me less money, but was usually the best choice.

So I didn't exactly strike it rich as an insurance salesman.

Now I would like to start going over some of the basics on improving your financial situation.

If you are having problems with your finances and living pay check to pay check, or seeing the month outlast your money, you are certainly not alone.

This is a situation many of us go through. Aside from sex, money can cause more problems than anything else.

People either have too much money and don't have a clue on what to do with it, or they don't have enough money.

If a person does not have enough money, it can be because they simply don't make enough money. Or, it can be because they don't budget and plain correctly, or live over their means.

I see this a lot in my job. Most people are just not real smart when it comes to finances. This is not to condemn anybody, as a country, we do a poor job on teaching people how to deal with their money.

We teach the students about history, math, english, science and other things, but neglect the basics of personal finance.

That means we are left to deal with it on our own. Some people learn from family or friends, while others study and research.

Thanks to the internet, there are numerous ways to learn about money and personal finances.

The first thing you need to decide is what is important to you regarding your finances. If you are a single person, that makes it a lot easier.

However, if you are married, this is something you and your spouse must get together and decide.

For a lot of people, this usually leads to arguments as the spouses usually have different ideas. One of you might be a saver while the other wants to spend every penny that comes in and then some.

If that is the case, you have some problems and need to try and educate the other person.

Once you have decided on what is important, you and your other half (notice I didn't say better half?) will need to decide on what is important.

It might be paying off all debt, buying a house, saving or whatever.

In the next blog, I will go over ways to meet your goals.