Fiscal literacy is something that you need to have if you want to be successful in life. If you are unable to manage your money, you won’t be able to buy a house, get good rates on loans or have enough cash to support yourself during retirement. How can you be sure that you are making informed financial decisions?

Take an Economics Class

During high school or college, you may be able to take economics courses that will help you learn basic financial concepts. It may also be possible to sign up for classes at your local community college or for courses offered by individuals online. When you have finished a class, you should better understand the importance of compound interest or why your credit score matters.

Talk With a Financial Adviser

Talking to a financial expert may help you create a plan to cut down on debt, make more money or save for retirement. Ideally, you will talk to a group such as UBS – The Burish Group with a CPA or someone else who has a fiduciary duty to act in your best interests. Otherwise, you could be scheduling a meeting with someone who just wants to sell financial products that you don’t need and may not be able to afford.

Know the Long-Term Implications of Borrowing Money

There are many loan calculators available online that help you see how much it really costs to borrow money. These tools may also allow you to see an amortization table that shows how much of each payment goes toward principle and how much goes to interest. Knowing how much a loan actually costs as opposed to just looking at the monthly payment may make it easier to borrow only what you can afford to repay.

Make Your Own Investment Choices

You should never let a broker tell you which stocks or other equities are best for your portfolio. While you want to do your research before making a decision, any choice to buy or sell an equity should be based on your own analysis. Although you won’t be right about every choice that you make, at least you make it based on your own goals and objectives.

Being good with money is something that you learn partially by experience and partially by learning from others. Understanding how interest and other fees can impact borrowing costs or impact the performance of your stock portfolio may make it easier to make decisions that could impact your net worth. It may also make it easier to create a budget for today as well for after you retire