What students should save for?

This is another guest post from Young, who recently shared his story and his experience on investing on a previous blog post in my blog. In this post, he talks about the life of young people and what should they save for?

Credit: ringling.libguides.com

"Many times, I would find myself hearing schoolmates saying, “eh bro, can belanjal or not?” What this translates to is, “hey bro, could you give me a treat?”

One would find it common for students to be hanging out at cafés like Starbucks and such. We also find students filling up jobs along the lines of doing some special events or waiting tables in restaurants.

In fact, i've observed that taking up part time jobs for students has turned into something very common. Why is this so?

It is also common to see students especially teenagers having the latest gadgets (for guys) and designer brands (for girls).

It appears that after some eavesdropping and chit chat, a huge number of students take up part time jobs to fund their wants.

Of course, this conclusion/deduction is merely my own and definitely does not apply to all.

So is it wrong to take a part time job for the sake of buying such items? Of course not. In fact, it is commendable that teens take up a job.

However, if one spends their salary frivolously and takes up the job simply for the sake of spending; then I do not think it a good idea.

Long story short, the point of this short article is to induce the idea of working to invest rather than working to indulge.

By having the intention to invest at a younger age, this induces the notion of planning for the future to a certain extent.

What might this be beneficial for one may ask? It can be used to offset a certain amount of tuition fees, food and travelling expenses etc."

SGYI's thoughts: 

I'm glad to be able to hear from a young person on how his friends are living their lives. It is common for young people to spend on "wants" especially on the latest gadgets and following the latest fashion trends. I was once like that too. Spending the money i earned from a part time job just to buy a $300 plus dollars 3.2 mega pixels camera phone which was the new thing back then. 

Thinking back, all those expenditure were of no meaning at all. Where was the phone that I bought during my younger days? Its not trendy any more so I changed another phone. It did not make any difference in my life for spending on that latest phone. 

Spending money is ok but spend on something that is meaningful such as a gift for your loved ones or a trip with your family. These are the ones that will make a difference in your life. However, we still need savings and also investment to grow our wealth. It all about achieving that balance. Don't spend too much and don't save too much. Haver a financial plan for your future. 

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