Being a single parent has innumerable challenges, especially from the point of securing a financially strong future for you and your child(ren). In such cases, having a mere life insurance coverage or some saving might not be sufficient enough to protect your future against unexpected financial emergencies or meet all your life aspirations. The best approach is to consider creating comprehensive financial planning strategies which can fulfill your monetary needs not just for now but also well into the future.

Having strong financial planning strategies does not mean cutting down on your life aspirations or fun elements of your day-to-day life. It’s all about becoming financially fit. So let’s look at some of the smart financial planning strategies you can pick as a single parent.

Pick a right plan that has wide coverage

Initially analyze your future goals that need more attention and money then, jot down your current position.  Your future goals may be to give your child the best possible education, get your child married and helping your child to be on a right track when it comes to career. Consider current expenses, present EMIs, credit card bill, debts and more before picking up an investment option.

Connect your expenses and goals with the benefits of the investment or savings option you would like to pick up. Make way for regular savings too, which will take care of your essential timely payments. Your choice of investments, insurance and savings should ideally help you move towards your goals smoothly without the burden of being a single parent.

Always revisit your goals and create awareness

Though you have determined your life-goals before investing in any financial investments, the timely recheck of the life goals and your investment will help you in assessing whether you are in the front foot or not. When life’s circumstances change, our financial priorities will definitely undergo changes too. Hence, be slightly flexible when it comes to “sticking” to the plan.

Aim at achieving a balance between earns, spends, expenses, savings, and investments

Achieving that balance between what you earn, spend, save, and invest is critical. Any discretionary spend extending beyond 30% of your income is considered dangerous. So always follow the 50-30-20 rule. Ensure that you save 20% of your income (not just salary – all sources of income), use 50% on essentials including EMI payments and groceries, and spend just 30% or less on the “fun” elements of life. Focus on slightly budgeting on this 30% to gain control over your finances in the long term.

Ensure monthly income through investments

Your long-term investments that pay a hefty during maturity is always recommended, but along with that pitch in for a regular monthly inflow of cash through your financial investments. Such investments may not help you in paying for your big expenses in life like education or marriage but, this is to help your child to handle money with care and cautiousness. It is also very much essential to have a regular income to pay off your monthly expenses and dues.

Pick your retirement plan without fail

While you are carrying out your duty as a single parent in opting for the right child protection plan and life cover for you and your child, never fail to pick a retirement plan for yourself. Make sure you pile up a good amount of retirement corpus before you approach retirement. Choose your retirement tool early to be financially secure at your old age.

To sum up

Being a single parent may be a daunting task at times, but you can make it enjoyable and financially secure by picking up the right set of investment options that take care of you and your child’s present and future financial needs. Of course, not all of us have the expertise to plan a secure and perfect set of the investment portfolio. Hence, make sure to take the help of experts – financial advisory services or financial planning experts – who can give you customized investment options.

PrognoAdvisor is your trusted online financial planning service from India, with extensive expertise in understanding your specific financial and life goals and guiding you achieve these goals with confidence. Connect with our financial advisors at Prognoadvisor.com to understand how you can simplify the entire process of personal financial planning in terms of both long- and short-term investments that help you achieve smart wealth creation and management, delivering, of course, some smart tax savings.