We hear much these days about the bigger picture and playing the long game, but the short term is not a bad thing, and when you look at your life story in years to come, it’s going to be a series of short-term situations that add up to a long story. In financial matters, short term solutions can be extremely important, integral to achieving an overall goal. The road from high school to retirement seems like a long one when you’re young but will appear much shorter when you’re that senior person looking back.

Get to College

When a teenager starts working on weekends and during those precious free weeks between semesters, the wise ones will open a bank account and start accumulating money. Sure, they can buy themselves some clothes and fund their social life, but taking control of life and keeping most of their earnings in the bank is a short-term way of making college life easier.

Get Through the College Years

Most will have to get a student loan and the bank you’re saving with is the one most likely to give you the funds to get through this vital stage of your life. You will have to pay it back over an agreed period, and if this seems like a bit of an imposition, that’s life. Pay off the loan and move on. Pay it off quicker and pay less interest. Once you’re earning, you may get a better deal with a different bank, so it’s worth exploring that idea.

Set Up a Business

Everybody needs seed money to buy the equipment they need, maybe rent premises, and to help while they wait for the bucks to start rolling in. By now you should have a good relationship with your lender, which is very important, because you might need to borrow from them again one day. Even if you don’t go self-employed, you’re going to need a car and to take vacations.

Property

A mortgage might not be a short-term thing but getting a mortgage will preoccupy you for a little while. If what you buy needs a bit of work, you may need a further cash injection to pay the builder, plumber, roofer and so on.

The Bridging Loan

When you’re already on the property ladder but you want to move to something bigger and better, there may be an awkward little period where you’ve got to snap up the new place, but you haven’t sold the existing one yet. The deal then is to get a bridging loan (a personal loan) to cover the transition period. Personal loans vary in terms of the interest rates so it’s important to read a full guide on the conditions before you sign your name to the contract. All the while, you’re building a financial reputation which is summed up as a credit rating or credit score, which will follow you around like a friend or foe, so better make it the former. A good credit rating will help you arrange vacations, buy new cars, and help get your kids through college.