Kiersten Saunders

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Even small changes can make a big difference to your financial journey. As with tackling any new goal, it helps to have the right habits in place to help lead you across the finish line. Whether you’re saving up for a house, thinking about retirement or just hoping to achieve a feeling of security, building the right habits is crucial to ensuring you have the tools you need to accomplish your goal.  And while there are some habits you may be able to identify for yourself, there are others financial experts wish people would give more thoughtful consideration. Here, 11 members of Kiplinger Advisor Collective discuss some of the most important money habits they think more people should cultivate and why they’re so essential to building true wealth throughout your life.

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Tools and automations can help make budgeting less of a hassle. When it comes to saving money and growing your wealth, budgeting is a common solution that always seems to crop up. However, while building a budget is an effective step for some, others may find they have a hard time sticking to one long term. Whether it’s because they feel too restricted by the budget’s parameters or they simply find making one too complicated and time-consuming, many people struggle to reap the benefits of this money-planning technique. But this doesn’t mean that a budget isn’t for you. According to the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective, there are a few tricks you can use to make budgeting easier and possibly even more fun to do. Read on for their budgeting secrets and how you can finally stick to your budget for the long haul.

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In the financial world, it’s not just about knowing your numbers. Many think of finances as purely a numbers business, but in reality, it’s a people business too. Financial advisers work closely with their clients, often getting to know them on a deeper level than others might due to the sensitive nature of the work they do together. Discussing and receiving advice about one’s financial goals and personal money habits can be very vulnerable, and so working with a financial adviser who puts focus on their “soft skills” can be a much more comfortable and rewarding experience. Below, the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective touch on nine other reasons why financial advisers and other financial professionals should sharpen their soft skills, and address why doing so can make for much better client-adviser relationships. 

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If you want to get ahead with money, it’s important to think before you buy. Making the decision to spend your hard-earned cash should be worthy of more than just a passing thought — especially when it comes to big purchases. And yet, people make impulse purchases every day, whether it’s a cute blouse, the latest smartphone or even a new car. Often driven by instant gratification or the subconscious (or conscious) desire to impress others, these purchases can be damaging to your overall financial health if you’re not in the right place to make them. Learning to take a step back and reflect before making a big purchase is essential to getting ahead financially and not saddling yourself with debt or furthering negative patterns of behavior. But how can you go about changing these behaviors, especially if shopping in this way is something you’ve been doing for a long time? To start, ask yourself the following six questions, as recommended by the financial leaders of Kiplinger Advisor Collective. Below, they explain why these particular questions are so vital to ask before making a major purchase and how they can help you make better buying decisions in the future.

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The way you approach these conversations can set the stage for your whole relationship — for better or worse. Money and finances can be a truly divisive topic, and nowhere is this more true than with romantic partners. With differing spending and saving habits, economic backgrounds, values or beliefs around money, couples may find it difficult to get on the same page when it comes to their finances. In some cases, disagreements around money may even lead couples to break up or divorce. In this way, it’s vital couples have conversations about money early on to set a better foundation for their financial future together. However, ensuring you’re having these conversations the right way — without them turning into arguments — is key to your success. To offer their guidance, 10 financial experts from Kiplinger Advisor Collective each share one piece of advice they’d give to a couple about how to approach money conversations in a better way and work together to accomplish their financial goals.

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The key to smart investing is to first equip yourself with the right knowledge. For the average person, investing can seem like an intimidating concept. “How do I figure out what to invest in?” “How much should I invest, and how often?” “What are the best accounts to open up?” “What happens if I lose all my money?” These are just some of the questions aspiring investors are likely to ask, but getting answers isn’t always so straightforward. Those attempting to invest without any knowledge of how to do so have the potential to set themselves up for grave financial mistakes in the future. In this way, it’s critical new investors take care before making any decisions or setting any investment goals. But whether someone just wants to dabble in investing or they’re ready to make some more aggressive moves, they should first consider the advice of financial and investment experts. As such, the leaders of Kiplinger Advisor Collective have some sage advice for newbie investors. Below, they each offer one tip that individuals new to investing may not know about how to do it smartly, and why they would so strongly advise taking these cautionary steps before taking any major financial ones.