Making big decisions well

Making big decisions well

Life is a journey, and no one can live our lives for us. We each make our own decisions for how we’ll live our lives. There are a number of big decisions that we as young professionals will likely make and as scary as they may seem, sooner or later we’ll likely all be faced with some, or all of them. What we choose to do and when is entirely up to us. However, the big decisions can often have us questioning the right choice, and it is important for us to feel confident when we embark on those next steps. Here are some of the big decisions you could face and some financial considerations to help you feel better about making them!

Image source – pixabay – cco license 

Getting married

Marriage. It is often something that many of us will think about at some stage of our lives. But finding the one, proposing or being proposed to, is one thing. Planning and paying for a wedding can be a whole different story. Saving for the future is good, but it is always a great idea to have separate pots of savings for different more short term plans in your life, and a wedding fund could be one of them. As you get more serious with your significant other, you may want to start planning, thinking, saving, or gauging how much a wedding for the two of you would cost, and who plans to pay, and how much they can afford to pay. Mrs. Money and I for example got some financial support from our parents (thanks Mom/Dads) but also supplemented with our own income. Knowing ahead of time meant we could start saving in advance and we also (no surprise here) had a budget going into it.

Marriage is certainly not just a financial thing to consider, but marriage is deemed as being something for life. A commitment you make to someone else where you promise to spend the rest of your lives together, through the good and the bad. If this isn’t seen as a life investment, I don’t know what would be! 7 years going strong for Mrs. Money and I!

Buying a home 

There is no denying that buying a home is one of the biggest decisions and, of course, one of the largest financial investments that you might ever make. So it is important to make the right decision. Not just when it comes to looking at mortgage deals and using online tools to work out affordability but also when it comes to the location, the type of property and your future plans. You need to think about the short and long term aspects so that you can feel confident in this next step of your life. 

I generally like to recommend having at least $10K, if not $20K set aside in cash and feel good about remaining in the house for at least 3 years (as it costs money to buy/sell a house). Do your research, make sure you’re ready to be a homeowner (no more calling the landlord when something breaks) and have some money set aside for both the purchase, moving expenses and maintenance!

Starting a family

Starting a family is often a decision made with your significant other. It isn’t just a life investment where you become responsible for another human being for life, you are also taking on the financial elements. The years of clothing, food and keeping a roof over their heads. The money for schooling, the first car, the first house, maybe, or a university or college education. It can certainly be an exciting time of your life. 

Although it’s impossible to put a price on how much it costs to raise a kid, it’s certainly not cheap nor free! As with other endeavors in life, there are ways to do it more affordably and it may not cost as much as you fear to raise a kid. BabyMoneyFinance has been a huge blessing and a great addition to our family but we have had to make some change in our lives and how we spend our money looks quite different!

Investing in your career

Finally, many people consider their career as a huge chunk of their lives. After all, you spend many years doing a job and earning a living, that it is important for you to enjoy what you do and feel the time invested into your career is worthy. You may then think about making an investment into training or education, perhaps trying to broaden your opportunities or working towards a promotion. This can then improve your lifestyle as perhaps you get a better home and work life balance or it could even increase the amount that you earn. Always look for ways to grow and develop your own skills to help you in this job, or a future one!

Let’s hope working through some of the common big decisions will help you to feel more confident about your choices in the future. 

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