I want to discuss the three factors that determine where you are financially: Inflow, Outflow and Accumulation. Inflow can be regarded as the personal income your household takes in. Outflow, on the other hand, can be broken down into four areas: Living expenses, taxes, optional expenses and giving. Accumulation can be broken down into saving and investing.

Inflow (income):

When most people think of income they think of a job. But this isn’t always the case. Many people have rental income, stock dividends, royalties, and passive income from businesses. Income earned at a job, however, is the most common source of financial inflow.

Outflow:

Outflow is the consequence of living in a monetary society. Everything costs money. Food, storage, shelter, transportation and even water. Being weary of how you spend money as well as prioritizing the things that are important, is a must for anyone wanting to live according to their values.

What’s the best way to decrease unnecessary spending? Getting a B–U–D–G–E–T. I know what you’re thinking. “It can’t make much difference anyway,” you’re telling yourself. “I only spend money on things I need.” The surprising thing is the most people, as soon as they get on a written budget, are able to eliminate expenses they knew they had.

@AfricanSoulGoddess wrote a very insightful post on this topic titled Best budgeting: Personal finance.

Growth and Accumulation:

This is the final aspect of your finances. In this area you are beginning to experience a little success. This is the area in which the Billionaires and Millionaires of the world were made.

As income flows in, most people spend most of it on outflow (whether necessities, optional spending, taxes or giving). While each of these things are part of any healthy financial plan, contributing to a retirement account or other investment account should be coming right off the top of your paycheck!

Not only is setting up an automatic withdraw helpful, but it could mean the difference between retiring at 55 or 65. Don’t believe me? Do that math. If you’re receiving a 10% return on your money your money is doubling every 7.2 years. That means if you postpone or weaken your contributions by even 7 years you’ll be losing out on almost half of what you could’ve had.

In retrospect, most people will look back and regret not contributing more. So for those who have time on their side, now is the time to start preparing for your future.