Whether you’re a fresh graduate who landed his or her first job, or some one lucky enough to be back in the workforce, you have to make sure you get to work at building up your finances real quick.
Here are three things that you should do as soon as you start earning that paycheck.
(Re)build an emergency fund. Many would make the mistake of blowing the first salary on petty things – treating friends, splurging. But the first thing that you should really do is to build an emergency fund. The recession has taught us that you should now have at least a year’s worth of living expenses saved and readily on hand. So start saving before you splurge.
Enroll in the 401k. If your employer offers contribution matching, enroll in the program right away and try to contribute the maximum that your budget allows.
Maximize health insurance. Health care can be a huge expense but if your company offers one, then opt in. You oftentimes get a better deal when you get it from your company.
I would add, if your employer does not provide health insurance, you should find an individual plan that is affordable and provides the care you need. The costs of health insurance premiums vary according to the level of copay and deductibles you will be expected to pay when you need treatment, but the full costs of treatment could bankrupt you. So visit http://www.healthcompare.com where you will get free quotes for the plans available to you; if you need help with the terms used, visit the HealthCompare YouTube channel, where the videos explain all the details you need to know before purchasing a plan.
In the interests of transparency, I work with HealthCompare, and I am sharing these resources in the hope that they will be useful to your readers in the event that they need to find an individual plan.