Four Signs You’re On Top Of Your Finances

No matter how much money you make, it can feel like you never have enough money or (the better alternative) that you’re on track. A study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found four factors that suggest when you’ve achieved financial well-being.

Picture: Anil Mohabir

The study included in-depth interviews with 59 working-age and older consumers, as well as 30 financial experts, and sought to define what “financial well-being” actually means.

Vanguard summarises the study’s findings of what money mastering commonly means:

According to the survey, gaining control of your finances includes these four elements:

• You can pay your bills on time and don’t have to worry about having enough money to get by. People who are in control “manage their finances, their finances do not manage them,” the research participants agreed.
• You’re financially prepared to deal with emergencies. When the unexpected strikes, you have enough savings, insurance, and the support of friends and family to make it through a job loss, a medical emergency, or a furnace replacement.
• You have a plan for each of your financial goals and are on your way to meeting those goals.
• You have the financial freedom to enjoy your life. You can take a vacation, go out to dinner, be generous to your family, or go back to school, if you wish.

If you meet the four criteria above, congratulations, you can try not to stress about money so much. For the rest of us, these are good goals to work towards.

You can read the study in the link below.

Financial well-being: The goal of financial education [CFPB via Vanguard]