Planning is the most important aspect of personal finance. It includes road map of short as well as long term aspirations and how much money you would like to save every day. You should allocate your extra money for contingencies. This includes college, marriage, trip or any other thing. Planning helps you to know how much you have to save for achieving your most desirous thing. It is also important to start savings early so that you have capital to invest and this can give you compounded returns on your investment. So invest for a long term to make greater profits. Also keep your investments diversified so that you don’t suffer any loss. Manage your finance carefully and spend only on what you can afford. Also, learn how to evaluate your purchases as most people fail in achieving their financial goals by buying stuffs that they don’t require or that has high cost – benefit ratio. It has also been seen that people find it difficult to stick to their budget. Individuals should avoid taking credit cards as it has a higher rate of interest, it can affect your insurance and it instigates mindless purchasing.
Degree is not a problem:
A finance or business degree is no longer a prerequisite to begin finance related jobs. A non-financial degree can create difficulty in getting a secure job in finance. All employers look for smart and motivated employees who can perform their job well. A financial degree may not provide you success in any job that involves communication, problem solving ability and time management.
Ways of demonstrating your skills to the potential employers:
It is necessary to have passion to be successful in your finance career. Learn both the positive as well as negative sides of your financial career and get closer to your goal. Look at the level of difficulty and impact of each course to make a mark in your financial career.
1.   Learn Lingo:
If you are interested to make a mark in your financial career, learn lingo of Wall Street. If you don’t know difference between dilution and dividend, NPV and DCF, you may consider learning financial terms and concepts by browsing an extensive dictionary at sites like investopedia or Wall Street Journal. Learning lingo is not that difficult and it creates a low impact on your career. If you don’t know finance then it becomes impossible for you to get preliminary interview stage for non-financial graduates. The interviewer generally assumes that the applicants have knowledge about finance and their educational background hardly matters.
2.   Round off your education:
Even if you are graduated in any other stream and want to get into finance then you can redress the whole situation by taking up relevant courses and stressing more on finance or business at undergraduate or postgraduate level. At undergraduate level, course in economics, accounting or finance is a great option. For post-graduation, MBA is the most favored option as finance component of curriculum plays an important role. The level of difficulty for this is low to moderate and it has high impact in career of an individual. The only factor that you need to consider more is the cost of MBA. Some other course like CFA program is also worth exploring.
3.   Enroll yourself in the Financial Boot Camp:
Some firms teach you intensive courses like financial modeling and advanced techniques of spreadsheet help you to develop valuable skills that are essential for finance career. These crash courses are very expensive but it does not need long term commitment. The only drawback of this program is the intensity and basic financial concepts that can help you to derive maximum benefits. The level of difficulty of the course is moderate and it has moderate impact on career of individual.
4.   Expand your knowledge:
Relevant knowledge is not only obtained with a college degree. There are many resources that are available and you can use local library or online source for gaining more knowledge of finance. These resources can be free or on paid basis from all the service providers. Self-learning may be difficult and a number of attributes to employer such as initiative, passion and drive. The level of difficulty of this is moderate and it has a high impact on career of individuals.
5.   Use Trade Simulator:
There are a number of financial education and online brokers that have trade simulators for constructing mock portfolios. A trade stimulator forces you to track the market and keep all the market developments abreast. You can impress your potential employers by showing your knowledge on trading or market. This needs less investment and has some time commitments. The level of difficulty of the course is moderate and it has low impact in career of individuals.
6.   Complete industrial course:
By completing an industrial course, you can demonstrate your commitment to the finance career. This gives you a complete edge on competition for job. This option may not be available in all jurisdictions so in this case, you need to explore many other options. The content of the course is usually difficult and it has high impact on career of individuals.
7.   Maintaining a financial blog:
The best way of communicating your investment ideas among the people is to start and maintain a financial blog. This is a way of conveying all your potential employers a favorable impression about diverse skillsets and it includes financial acumen, technological advancement and communication skills. It is the way in which self-marketing is done and it is the best way for those who possess all necessary skills. Maintaining blogs is very difficult and it has moderate impact on career of individuals.
8.   Link up with mentors:
The best way of jumpstarting your financial career is linking up with mentors. A mentor can influence the way you think about your capabilities and help you to achieve greater goals. Your mentor can be anyone – professor at college, family friend or relative with successful financial career. Don’t hesitate in approaching people as they can help you in your job search. The level of difficulty for this is high and it has moderate impact on individuals.