海角大神

So you landed a new job. Congratulations! You鈥檙e making money. But do you know what you should be doing with it? Most people don鈥檛 learn about money management in school. There are many things聽to consider, such as evaluating your employee benefits, deciding how to invest your hard-earned money and saving for an emergency.

You don鈥檛 want to learn these financial lessons the hard way, through unnecessary 鈥� and expensive 鈥� mistakes. Here are four tips to help you manage your exciting new income.

1. Understand your employee benefits

If your company offers a benefits package, take聽advantage of it. Step one is to talk with someone in your company鈥檚 human resources department. They can help you understand which benefits 鈥� like health, disability and life insurance and retirement savings plans 鈥� would be best for you.

Generally speaking, if you aren鈥檛聽married and don鈥檛 have聽children, you probably don鈥檛 need a lot of because you don鈥檛 have someone who is financially dependent on you. However, buying聽long-term could be beneficial because it would cover聽lost income if you were unable to work for an extended time. When you review your health insurance options, weigh the pros and cons of a high-deductible plan with lower monthly costs against a lower-deductible plan with higher monthly costs.

But remember, everyone鈥檚 situation is different. So don鈥檛 just ask a co-worker 鈥� talk with your HR department or consider working with a financial planner to .

2. Make the most of your 401(k)

You may be eligible for an employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan. With a , you contribute money you have earned before taxes, and you pay taxes when you take the money out. The idea is to contribute to the plan throughout your working years and then draw on these funds once you retire.

Many companies offer to match a percentage of your contribution. If you don鈥檛 take advantage of a match, you鈥檙e leaving money on the table. Each company has its own聽rules about how much of its employees鈥� contributions it聽will match and when. Make sure you understand the rules and contribute enough to get all the cash you鈥檙e eligible to receive.

While it鈥檚 important to save for retirement, it鈥檚 also important that you鈥檙e not stuck with high-interest or credit card debt. If you have debt with high interest rates, work聽out a strategy in which you don鈥檛 contribute as much to your retirement plan so you can . However, I suggest still contributing at least as much as necessary to receive the maximum company match.

Just as聽with your other corporate benefits, when it comes to your 401(k), start by connecting with your HR department to see what your company鈥檚 rules are. If you have questions about how much to contribute, there are many 聽to help you understand what your take-home pay will be at different contribution levels.

3. Determine your risk tolerance and invest your 401(k) funds accordingly

Risk tolerance simply means how much risk are you comfortable taking with your money, based on your personality and your time horizon.聽Understanding your risk tolerance will help you determine聽.

The general concept is that higher-risk investments, like stocks, tend to make higher returns over the long run, compared with lower-risk assets like bonds. If you have a low risk tolerance, you鈥檇 want a smaller portion of stocks in your portfolio. If you have a greater risk appetite and a long time until you need the money, you may be able to consider holding more stocks.

Another option for your 401(k) is to choose target-date funds. These funds have聽a mix of stocks, bonds and cash with a risk level based on how long you have until retirement. They are set up to have more exposure to risky investments when you are young and then, as you approach retirement,聽they automatically scale back this allocation to a more conservative mix.

But remember that all investing has risk, even with less risky assets. This is why it鈥檚 so important that you understand what level you鈥檙e comfortable with. If you鈥檙e unsure, take a .

4. Create an emergency savings fund or open a Roth IRA

In addition to putting money in聽a 401(k), I also recommend you set aside money in an . Emergencies can include needing to fix your car, an unexpected聽medical bill, a period of unemployment and many other scenarios.

An聽emergency savings account is important because it will help keep you from taking on debt. However, if you have debt with high interest rates, I suggest paying that聽down before focusing on an emergency fund. Once you have paid down your debt, you can continue to make the same payments to your emergency savings account and build it quickly. Ideally, you should have between six months and one year of expenses saved up.

One way to create an emergency savings account is by funding a . With a Roth IRA, you contribute money you鈥檝e paid taxes on, but all withdrawals are tax-free after age 59陆. However, the beauty of a Roth IRA is that if you need to access your money sooner, you can without incurring any penalties or taxes.聽(Any investment earnings聽those deposits have made,聽though, will be taxed if withdrawn early.)

I recommend holding your emergency funds in cash within the Roth IRA to avoid the risk that you might have to sell investments at a loss if you do need the money. Once you have enough emergency savings in cash in the Roth IRA, you can invest anything above that amount.

This could be a good strategy for people to start with if they don鈥檛 have the money to both invest in a Roth IRA聽and save in an emergency fund. That way, if you don鈥檛 need the money, you can keep it in the Roth, invest it, and it will continue to grow tax-free until you use it in retirement. Using a Roth gives you a bit more flexibility now in terms of choosing how to use the money and helps you take advantage of this type of account to fund it for the future.

But remember, if you are using the Roth as an emergency fund and a retirement fund, the retirement portion would be invested and you should not use it unless absolutely necessary. It鈥檚 critical to understand that if you withdraw any earnings in the account prior to age 59陆, you could be faced with a penalty and taxes. Also note that you must have earned income to contribute. And while the maximum allowable contribution is $5,500 in 2016, be aware that there are for high earners.

Smart steps

These four guidelines will help make sure you鈥檙e handling your first paycheck wisely and creating good money habits you can use throughout your working years. Even if you鈥檙e in your 30s or 40s, it鈥檚 not too late to take a closer look at your finances or start a new retirement account. By following these tips today, you鈥檒l be taking care of yourself and preparing for a comfortable future.

, a former vice president of investments at Stifel, will be launching her own firm, Castle Wealth Advisors LLC, in April. This article first appeared at .