A Financial Life on Autopilot
After all of the debt is paid off. After all the proper frugal decisions are made. What do you have left but to flick on the auto-pilot switch?
Honestly, that is just a little bit depressing.
There is no more exciting debt payoffs. No more counting down the months to your debt free life. When you have it finally in your hands, it may seem a bit anti-climactic. What now?
Being debt free is a great accomplishment. By doing so, you are free to pursue other methods of investment and personal gain. Here are a few ideas to get the juices flowing.
Start Living
You’re debt free and have no bills? How about you give yourself a well deserved financial pat on the back. Go shopping. Feel guilty about it? Shop for gifts! Either way you go about it, take those debt payments you’ve been throwing at VISA and Mastercard and apply it to some good old fashioned consumer spending.
You’ve been a good soul about money for so long that I doubt you would relapse like a drug addict. Financial good sense, which I am assuming you have to be debt free, is not something that you are going to lose after a lone month of extravagance.
Setting extremes aside, you may also think to consider increasing your monthly budget for personal spending to get a bigger bite out every month. This is a treat that is earned so why not enjoy a little more of the money you have today. Tomorrow has been on your mind so long, today may be feeling a little neglected.
Start Investing More Aggressively
If you do not already have your own taxable stock trading account, get one. Even if you lose the money you put into it you will still hopefully learn a thing or two about the stock market.
If you want to go a step further, there are other more creative ways to invest your money that can also be fun, such as Prosper.com. There is something about digging through another person’s finances that is just enjoyable. If you have some spare cash, Prosper may be a fun way to invest on the side.
Start a Business
Capitalism at work. Let’s face it. Even saving most of your money will not get you wildly rich. To get to the top top percent of net worth, you have to earn more. Here in the land of the free, there is not better way to do just that than to create your own business.
You are in the best position possible to make the leap to a business owner. Failure may very well happen, but the chance of success is worth it. Make it something you love and even failure may turn out to be a worthwhile experience.
Whatever course you do take, even if it is nothing at all, financial auto-pilot still means you are the minority. You are well ahead of the game and should be proud of your accomplishement.