Early this year, there was a lot of talk about personal finance around me, so I put together a checklist based on what I actually do.
Step 1. Understand Your Cash Flow
- Calculate available amount after excluding fixed expenses from your salary
- Separate accounts (living expenses, emergency fund, investment)
- Keep at least 6 months of living expenses in savings as an emergency fund
Step 2. Start with Safe Assets
- Deposit the maximum amount into the youth-preferential housing subscription savings account first
- Compare fixed deposit rates every month and switch if needed
- These have nearly guaranteed rates, so they serve as a baseline without taking losses
Step 3. Investment Allocation
- Put 70% of your monthly available amount into stocks (domestic + overseas ETFs)
- Use 15% for rebalancing into bonds/deposits
- Keep the remaining 15% and only buy more when a specific theme drops sharply
Step 4. Track and Review
- Update net worth in Excel on the last week of every month
- Every quarter, review whether you're investing too aggressively
The most important thing I believe is to never invest with borrowed money, and that no strategy beats consistency. Let's all slowly get rich this year too.