Helpful tips to manage your money.

Click each principle to learn more!

• assignment_ind1. Your Financial Plan Should Be Unique To You
  Your life journey is different from others, so why should your financial plan be the same as others? While this might sound obvious, I’ve often heard of cases where people have followed the crowd and ended up with losses rather than gains. Your money management style will always be unique, no matter how tempted you might feel about joining the herd. After all, no two needs, earnings, and expenses can match dollar by dollar. Correct? It’s simple: Stay in your financial lane, be curious to learn more about money management, and apply it gradually in your life!
• attach_money2. Intelligently Invest For The Long Term
  The concept of money management expands beyond the basic earn and spend rule. As a finance professional, I insist my clients to invest for a secure future. As history has proven, investing should become a compulsory part of everyday money management. Depending on your life goals, risk appetite, and investible surplus – there are multiple investment opportunities in the UAE and globally to invest in. However, don’t invest with the expectations of generating quick returns or doubling your money overnight. I strongly advise you to keep a long-term vision in mind when you enter this space, say 3-7 years. Give your money time to grow gradually in the markets because success in investing does not come overnight. It takes discipline, due diligence and patience.
• edit3. Diversify, Diversify, Diversify
  An essential English lesson learned in school has stayed with me throughout my financial advising career: Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. This logic is relevant in the investing space. No matter which investment instrument you trust your money with, your money is always at risk due to factors not in your control. However, one of the most foolproof ways to follow healthy money management is to diversify your investment portfolio. Investing in multiple instruments across asset classes reduces your chances of facing extreme losses.
• dvr4. Set Realistic Goals
  Setting financial goals is essential. When you can visualize your goals, you tend to work harder to achieve them. The same goes for financial goals. Money management is a tricky space. Once you begin, you will experience the urge to take on more risk, but risk tolerance differs across people. In my experience no one likes to lose money. So instead, set practical goals for yourself, start slow, and keep track of your investment’s performance.
• flight5. Plan Professionally For Your Future
  Regardless of your present age, financial goals like planning for children’s education costs, life insurance expenses and retirement planning, demand you need to seek professional help. Money management is a full-time job. It isn’t easy and needs professional expertise to show decent results. While it is tempting (and easy) to go online and buy stocks and other products in today’s day, rarely is that a recipe for success. Yes, you might make money, but in the long run, you will need to seek professional advice to build a portfolio and manage money in a way that assist you with achieving your financial goals.

Quick tips for credit cards

• Pay off your FULL (not minimum) balance every month
• Use the card for needs, not wants
• Never skip a payment
• Use a rewards card

The first of the year is a great time to take a personal financial inventory especially when you may be recovering from overspending at Christmas. Maybe you’ve made a resolution to make and really live by, a monthly budget. In any case, it’s never a bad time to get your financial house in order.

There are many different financial profiles and household budgets vary widely. Budgets also fluctuate, morphing continually, due to unexpected changes — positive or negative — and disruptions. So how can you really determine the health of your financial profile?