Adulting 101: 10 Things To Do Now About Your Money or Your Life

Adulting 101: 10 Things To Do Now About Your Money or Your Life

Oftentimes in life, we just ignore certain things just because life is busy.

We get caught up in our jobs, parenting or simply just procrastinating because we don't want to deal with life admin.

2 months ago, a life-crushing event happened to me and my family.

My dearly loved brother-in-law passed away only aged 39 and left his wife (my younger sister) with two children aged 6 and 8.

Not only has this been devastating for all of us, but it also brought into focus the need to have our adulting lives sorted out before it is too late.

Here are 10 things you should do sooner not later about your money or your life.

10 Things To Do Now About Your Money or Your Life

I'll split the 10 ideas into two parts of 5 each. 5 things about your money and 5 things about your life.

Things To Do Now About Your Money

Let's talk about the money part first, and then the life part.

1. Open a Lifetime ISA

The first thing you should do sooner rather than later is to open a Lifetime ISA.

This one speaks directly to people in the UK.

A Lifetime ISA (LISA) is an Individual Savings Account (ISA) that you use to buy your first property or prepare for retirement.

This is something you have to get done before the age of 40 those in your 20s and 30s.

You need to get this done, like now because you get free money from the government by doing so.

You can contribute up to £4000 into a LISA in a year and you get a 25% bonus (maximum of £1000) in a tax year.

2. Write a Will

I can't stress how super important this is. Mary and I have written our wills.

You need to just go and speak to somebody who writes wills and get it done.

It's one of those things that you just tend to ignore simply because no one thinks they'll die today or tomorrow.

In addition, it is a taboo subject in some cultures. 

Some parents even go as far as thinking you're wishing them to die if you bring up the topic of writing a will.

No one knows how long we're all here for and no one knows how long they're going to be around.

So even if you have minimal assets, still write a will.

It is a huge benefit to your loved ones, your assets, belongings, and things do not end up with the state.

Instead, you want them to end up with the people you've worked hard for all these years.

3. Get Life Insurance

The very next one is to get life insurance and put your life insurance in a trust.

Life insurance is important. Let me give you an example, although this can apply to many communities.

In the black community, when a loved one dies, family members often start running around to raise money for the burial via a Go Fund Me.

One thing that could have helped that situation is having a good quality of life insurance policy in place.

That helps to not only mitigate some of that risk in terms of expenses but also provides protection for loved ones that are left behind when someone passes away.

So you definitely want to take that seriously. Make sure it's from a qualified life insurance provider.

Go and get yourself a quote.

We used a company that offers free advice called Life Search.

Obviously, there are other companies but I'm just telling you what we used.

Check them out and it will offer you peace of mind.

We all have that thing in the back of our minds or tasks we know we must get done.

We're all busy working, trying to make money, looking after our families, trying to make a living, etc.

This leads us to forget these important things and life insurance is one of them.

By the way, if you do get Life Insurance, ask your provider to put it in a trust for you.

It is free to do so and doing so puts any payout from the life insurance policy outside of your estate for inheritance tax purposes.

We have made a detailed video on our YouTube Channel about life insurance. Watch it here:

4. Invest in ISA and Pension

The next one is to invest in that ISA and pension before it's too late.

We know that investing is very important and again we've made tons of content about this but a lot of people keep putting off investing.

They just keep kicking the can down the road.

Get your money into your pension or ISA depending on what your goals are. Choose which one to invest in first.

We would say put your money into your ISA first and then into your pension if your priority is early retirement or if you want to leave the corporate world sooner rather than later.

Either way, the point is to start to invest in your ISA and your pension consistently if you don't do this already.

Recommended: Learn to Master Investing In Only 12 Days

5. Get A Lasting Power Of Attorney

We were reminded about the importance of doing this at a wealth and legacy event recently. 

This is for you if you've got an elderly parent or family member who might get to a point in their lives where things might change. i.e. they may

• need assistance,
• or not remember as well as they had done before.

And you may need to start to make some decisions for them.

That's where the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) comes into play.

Unfortunate situations could happen to anyone not just an elderly person but could be your partner, spouse, child, or literally anyone in your life.

Consider this one very strongly.

I understand that there is a big backlog for these, so the earlier you try to get one, the better.

Things To Do Now About Your Life

Now, let's look at things do soon not later in your life more generally.

6. Show That Person You Love Them Before It's Too Late

This one is such an interesting one.

Perhaps there is someone you fancy from afar, or like but you just never told them.

Or someone who you're going out with and you have never expressed your love for them.

You need to get on with it sooner rather than later. 

Mary is laughing at me as I write this but she agrees.

Get in there before someone else does.

7. Forgive That Person Before It's Too Late.

Seeking forgiveness is an interesting point because many of us are going through a lot of inner damage.

i.e. hurting ourselves by holding on to a lot of resentment, and hate by not forgiving people.

I've got a policy about just letting things go and I don't carry them into the next day.

I forgive and focus my mind a lot on what's positive.

Forgiveness will help you stay younger.

It will help you stay healthy, and that will just help you feel good about your life.

8. Improve Your Diet Before It's Too Late

I'm writing this as I'm eating a Vegetarian brunch.

I've got some avocado, mushroom, toast, and sweet potato rather than a sausage, etc.

I'm doing this deliberately because I care about my life and you should care about your life too.

What we feed ourselves matters a lot.

I've also started doing intermittent fasting and usually eat between 12 noon and 8 pm daily.

In addition to diet, I've been working on improving my overall fitness. My daily goal remains 10,000 steps.

9. Showing Your Children Love Before It's Too Late.

We watched the KSI: In Real Life documentary yesterday and it spoke to us about the importance of showing your children love before it's too late, particularly as African parents.

Although we are married, we feel quite young and take a different approach to parenting than our parents.

That hard love approach is what we grow up on.

Give your children hugs and show them that you love them.

Don't just say I love you, show them you love them.

It's so important and helps avoid a lot of future problems.

It also removes a lot of future baggage or issues that those children carry into the future as seen in the relationship between KSI and his father.

That baggage can affect the parents as well in an adverse way.

The documentary really hit home for us as parents. 

Chasing money and making a life is often the underlying cause for a lot of that neglect within family units. 

We never want to end up in this situation because the damage can be irreversible. 

10. Spend Time With Your Loved Ones Before It's Too Late.

This could be your parents, if you still have parents, it could be other loved ones.

Spend more time with your family members before it's too late.

I can't stress this enough.

I've noticed personally that as time passes, and as family members start becoming ill you start to realise, how fragile this life is.

You think to yourself –

“I don't have that much time here and neither do my family members. what if they were not here?”

What would I be doing with myself if this family member was no longer here?

One thing I'd highly recommend if you come from a family where you don't know a lot about your family history is –

Go and speak to your parents, your in-laws or a family member and document your family history.

Because, once that information is gone, it's gone.

And a lot of us, particularly immigrants don't know our family histories.

We don't have that deep heritage in terms of understanding where we've come from.

So you definitely want to do your best now to begin and not run away from the topic.

Conclusion

I want to just end by saying that adulting is hard.

There are many things to do sooner rather than later that I've mentioned and it can seem overwhelming.

For example, you may want to consider Income Protection Insurance.

I understand that the overwhelm is why it's easier to kick it down the road and just forget about it.

Please don't.

Choose one thing on the list and do it, just one.

Once you've done one thing, then choose another one and do it.

That's what will take you from being somebody who just ignores things that are important to being someone who ultimately designs a life of Financial Joy.

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I'd love to hear from you guys in the comments.  What ONE Thing on the list do you need to do NOW about your money or your life? Comment below.