Most Americans have never taken the time to teach themselves about money. It was never taught as a topic on high school or college, and they never become educated about money. They just learn what they absolutely have to, and barely get by with very little to show for it upon retirement. Maybe you are just starting to realize that you need to be intentional with your finances, that you need to have financial goals, that you need to do a monthly budget and save for retirement. Here are steps that you can take to financially educate yourself.

First you have to determine what you need to know more about. Can you balance your checkbook? Do you know how to write a monthly budget? Do you know anything about investing and saving for retirement? Do you know how to be frugal and save more money? Do you know about insurance, and what types you should have? Are your kids’ college funds in order? Do you know the dangers and benefits of different financial products?

After you have identified which areas that you are sorely lacking on, you will want to focus on learning about them. First, you should do a lot of reading. The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey is a great book which dispels a lot of garbage that the financial world tries to tell you. “Get Clark Smart” by Clark Howard is another book which will help you avoid a lot of the financial problems that many people run into.

The internet is a great way to learn about finance as well. You have to read with a filter when reading online though. Not everything you hear is God’s honest truth. There are people out there which would have you buy financial products which are really bad for you! It is a great source of knowledge though. Read a bunch of different websites and learn so that you can make informed decisions on your own. Never accept financial advice based on your belief that whoever is telling you that knows what they are talking about. Accept financial advice because you understand it and can explain it to other people.

If you need extra help besides reading and learning on your own, talk to a financial advisor. If you are looking for a good one who won’t just try to sell you whatever they make the most money on, go over to DaveRamsey.com and search for an endorsed local provider. Their financial counselors are actually out there to help you!

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