5 Ways To Become Financially Secure For the Future

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No matter how much we'd like to ignore it, finances play a huge part in our lives. 

For years I was quite irresponsible with my money, spending it as soon as I acquired it and never saving anything. However, since I became a mother, I've become better at managing my money and now that I'm 30 and have just become a homeowner, becoming financially secure for the future is something I'm really focusing on.

I'm sharing some very helpful ways of becoming financially secure for the future and making sure you have everything covered when it comes to your finances for whatever life throws at you. I think 2020 has taught us all to expect the unexpected always!

1. Have life cover in place

Life cover is a mandatory part of acquiring a mortgage, but if you're like me and also a parent, having extra life cover in place to cover the cost of your mortgage, support for your dependents for many years and a large life sum payment to cover any outgoings and to set up your dependents in their lives, is an important thing to have.

This can be quite expensive (€94 or so euro a month currently), but honestly, the peace of mind it gives me that my children will be provided for should anything happen to me, is so worth it. 

2. Funeral care

This is another topic no one ever wants to speak about, but death is inevitable for us all and there's no point in ignoring this fact. Funerals can be a huge cost and in most cases, it's a cost that hasn't been factored into our finances and can leave our loved ones with an unexpected financial burden.

This is why funeral care is an important thing to look into. It's something which can make an already upsetting and very stressful time a little bit easier. Heart of England funeral care have quoted that the cost of funerals has doubled in the last decade, making it such a large expense for families. Therefore, having funeral care in place can help to protect your family from a large financial burden when you have sadly passed away.

3. Put away for your pension

If you're in full-time employment, your employer should be paying pension contributions for you. However, if you're a self-employed person like me, we're in charge of putting away for our pension pot. This isn't always easy to do as our incomes can be variable and finances can arrive at different times throughout the month.

Choosing a set amount to put away each month is a good idea. Try to aim for around €30 a week (if you can) and put it away in a savings account that you won't touch. You can also set up a Personal Retirement Savings Account to save for your pension.

4. Set up a savings account

It's always good to have a savings account build up as a 'nest egg' for anything that life may throw at you. Personally, saving in a Credit Union is what I like to do as I know I won't take out the money. This allowed me to build up our deposit for our mortgage.

I am now focused on saving up a substantial sum for home improvements we'll be doing throughout the years and any special holidays we'd like to do as a family or in our retirement.

5. Invest in shares

Buying shares is a method of potentially making a return from an increase in share value and from dividends. 

Like with everything in life, there is a risk of loss involved in investing in shares as the market can fluctuate often, however, if done right, it can give a great return and be a great way of setting yourself up for the future with some extra finances.