Factors You May Not Consider That Can Affect Your Finances

You know that a lot of factors in your life affect your personal finances. You take the time to compare insurance companies and get the best car insurance rate and take advantage of coupons and sales for extra savings. You do whatever you can to make the most of your money. But certain factors are more difficult to control—and might not even come to mind as you contemplate your financial health. From the differences in average car insurance rates by age and gender to how your spiritual beliefs affect your finances, it’s important to consider the ways that less conventional factors impact your relationship with money.

Your Age

 

One of the factors you have the least control over is your age. You might know already that the average age of your credit accounts has an impact on your credit score—by default, a young person won’t be able to have the sort of long-term credit history as an older person. But age groups on both ends of the spectrum face other constraints. Seniors may have less disposable income than they held throughout their lives, depending on retirement savings, social security, and other sources of funds.

 

Comparatively, a new graduate taking on an entry-level role will earn less than their upper-level colleagues. Similarly, the expenses they face will differ. Auto insurers are likely to charge higher car insurance rates for younger drivers, while more experienced older drivers will earn a better auto insurance rate.

Your Gender

 

Like with your age, your gender affects everything from your income to your car insurance premium. But these, too, are aspects that you likely overlook in managing your finances, and are factors you can’t control. A female driver, for example, is likely to have a more affordable average rate for car insurance and similar expenses than their male peers. However, women face higher costs in other areas of their life.

 

Known as “the pink tax,” products marketed toward women are more likely to cost more than the masculine equivalent. Coupled, with the gender-based wage gap, a female working in a particular role may earn less and need to spend more than a male colleague with the same job title and overall lifestyle.

Your Spiritual Path

 

As you manage your money, you’re probably not thinking of how your spiritual beliefs impact your finances, aside from the occasional prayer for greater funds to come your way. However, it just might have more of an effect than you realize. When you believe in something strongly enough, that belief will inevitably affect your life, personal finance included. Someone with an interest in numerology, for example, may think through how their life path number impacts their money.

 

Knowing your life path number four encourages stability, you’ll embrace conventional methods to build wealth. Regardless of whether you’re consciously applying your spiritual beliefs to your financial life, they’ll inevitably affect this and other areas of your life.

Your Free Time

 

There are a lot of questions to consider when you’re making a purchase, like if you’re getting the best deal and whether you have the funds to spend in the first place. But how often do you consider how your free time—or lack thereof—factors into your finances? Before you buy a non-essential, spend some time determining how often you’ll actually use it. If you have the opportunity and time to use a product you’re looking to buy, it will prove to be a far more valuable—and financially sensible—purchase.

 

Conversely, how you spend your free time can directly impact your financial health. Are you spending too much on streaming services or dining out, when it might be more beneficial to pick up a side hustle? Consider not just whether you have the free time to make the most of a purchase, but whether that free time can be better put to improving your financial situation.

 

When it comes to your financial well-being, it’s important to consider the obvious factors. But it’s just as important to recognize the strengths and weaknesses you may have less control over. Your birth date may determine the quality of your car insurance quote, your beliefs may determine how you manage your money, and the ways you spend your free time can enhance or inhibit your wealth. By putting effort into the factors you can control, you’ll be better able to take advantage of the benefits of your age, gender, and other factors, or make up for those qualities that are detrimental to your financial health.