You very probably have not all recommended insurances in your country of residence or your mandatory insurance doesn’t cover everything you’d want it to cover. Same goes for savings, you don’t save enough for old age and emergencies. Basically if at some point you would have had to do something to prepare for the future, you didn’t do it.
The short version about insurance is this: Never insure anything where you can go “damn it” and pay in cash, the same rule goes for deductibles. On the reverse, insure anything that you absolutely have to pay for and would financially ruin you. Some possible areas are your house, liability insurance and health care cost. Google “necessary insurance” or similar.
The short version about savings retirement plans is this: Use google to find out if your government provides sufficient provisions for retirement, if you plan on retiring at all. If not, look for ways to provide for old age and/or invest money, the sooner you start, the better. Hold about three months worth of living expenses in the most liquid form possible to cover emergencies. To ensure saving, order your bank to transfer a set amount of cash every month to a seperate bank account which you can not access on the go.
1) If you have a family, your death goes on the “would financially ruin you” list. If anyone needs you, you need life insurance—and term is extremely cheap(I just sold a couple half a million each for $50/mo), so don’t use money as an excuse unless you’re destitute or extremely ill. To a lesser extent, disability insurance(though it tends to be pricier).
2) You may not want to ever retire, but the human body in old age is a very insistent creature. Plan on retiring. Better to have and not need than need and not have.
Further adding on that: Depending on the legal structure of the retirement fund, it can serve as a replacement for smaller insurances or you can have your children inherit it. Or have donated to charity upon your death.
You very probably have not all recommended insurances in your country of residence or your mandatory insurance doesn’t cover everything you’d want it to cover. Same goes for savings, you don’t save enough for old age and emergencies. Basically if at some point you would have had to do something to prepare for the future, you didn’t do it.
The short version about insurance is this: Never insure anything where you can go “damn it” and pay in cash, the same rule goes for deductibles. On the reverse, insure anything that you absolutely have to pay for and would financially ruin you. Some possible areas are your house, liability insurance and health care cost. Google “necessary insurance” or similar.
The short version about savings retirement plans is this: Use google to find out if your government provides sufficient provisions for retirement, if you plan on retiring at all. If not, look for ways to provide for old age and/or invest money, the sooner you start, the better. Hold about three months worth of living expenses in the most liquid form possible to cover emergencies. To ensure saving, order your bank to transfer a set amount of cash every month to a seperate bank account which you can not access on the go.
A couple addendums:
1) If you have a family, your death goes on the “would financially ruin you” list. If anyone needs you, you need life insurance—and term is extremely cheap(I just sold a couple half a million each for $50/mo), so don’t use money as an excuse unless you’re destitute or extremely ill. To a lesser extent, disability insurance(though it tends to be pricier).
2) You may not want to ever retire, but the human body in old age is a very insistent creature. Plan on retiring. Better to have and not need than need and not have.
Further adding on that: Depending on the legal structure of the retirement fund, it can serve as a replacement for smaller insurances or you can have your children inherit it. Or have donated to charity upon your death.