More

    When it Come to Your Finances – Are You an ‘Ant’ or a ‘Grasshopper’?

    There’s always a moral in every story; we just need to find it. You might have heard of the famous ant and grasshopper tale. If you haven’t, here’s the story.

    Once there was an ant that was responsible, calculative, and always foresaw things and acted accordingly. Her friends called her over cautious. Then there was the grasshopper. He lived in the moment, was easy going, and cared very little about the future. He was quite a dude in his friend circle.

    The summer season was hard for the ant. She was working hard, building a shelter and collecting food as the snowy winter was on its way. She used to spend the entire day collecting food and materials and, in the evening, used to build the shelter. Grasshopper, on the other hand, enjoyed the summer by eating, sleeping, and roaming around. Life was going great for that carefree chap. He even used to make fun of the ant for being uptight all the time and missing out on life.

    But then came the chilling winters. Ant had built a shelter for her to save from the cold and had enough food for the winter season in store. She spent the winter all cosying up and worry-free. In the winter season when everything is covered in the white sheet, it becomes hard to get food. The grasshopper didn’t foresee it and now was bearing the consequences with no food to eat or shelter to survive. It was one hell of a winter for him.

    So, are you the ant or the grasshopper? If it’s the latter one, time to turn around your life a little bit. Following are the things you can do to take care of your money matters and be the ant when it comes to financing:

    1. Create A Plan

    It is very important to have a life-plan. A plan where you know what you’re going to do and when you are going to do. Set a goal; education, career, retirement, have a target for everything. Make a timeline, mention at what age where you see yourself. It would not only help you in career growth, but you will also get a hold on your financial requirements for the future. For instance, you’ll know how much money you should be making if you’re planning to retire at the age of 40 and you can make your career and investment choices accordingly. If your target is 60, then you would know you have a little extra time, so you can enjoy a couple of expensive vacations once in a while. Life would be sorted if you have a plan.

    2. Save Money

    It’s time to open an actual savings account in which you would only be putting the money and won’t be taking it out. It’s important to have an emergency fund; you never know what misfortune might strike you. Remember how the ant worked hard and saved for winters? You should do the same, and save it for a rainy period of life, if, God forbids, that happens. A backup never hurts.

    3. Observe Your Spending

    Spending is as important as saving. Having a savings account and maintaining it regularly isn’t enough. You should carefully observe where you are spending the rest of your money. Then see if it is absolutely necessary to spend it there or is there a chance that you can do just fine if you cut some of those expenses. Be your own critique, for the sake of your future.

    4. Compare Your Goals with Your Actions

    The above two points made you aware of your financial status. Now combine it with the first point and see where you’re standing. Does your financial status match with the plan you created? Does your savings/spending ratio reflect that you can retire at 40 (if that’s your plan)? Observe carefully what you are doing right now and what you want to be in future. This comparison will push you to make changes in your current lifestyle in order to achieve your goals.

    5. Term Insurance

    Above points taught you to take care of yourself for a rainy day. Now it’s time to take of your family. Have you ever thought if something happens to you, what would your family do without you? They would be devastated, emotionally and perhaps financially. You can take care of the latter part right now! Purchase a term insurance policy.

    If something happens to you, your term insurance policy would give your family an assured sum which would help them in that period of difficulty. Money doesn’t solve all the problems, but it sure can get rid of some. Be wise! However, before buying a term insurance policy, don’t forget to compare policies online. Insurers like Future Generali offer ample benefits to policy seekers. Some of them include: the availability of riders, high sum assured discount, tax benefits, longer protection etc.

    Concluding

    It’s important in life to figure out what you want to do and accordingly act on your actions to achieve it. It’s great to live in the moment, just like the grasshopper. But what would you do if things go south? Be the ant, have a plan, and act on it!

    The Zigverve Team
    The Zigverve Team
    The dedicated team at Zigverve that aims at bringing you the best lifestyle updates from all over the world.

    Get in Touch

    Related Articles

    Get in Touch

    8,361FansLike
    13,264FollowersFollow
    1,627FollowersFollow
    9,823FollowersFollow

    Latest Posts