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New Year, New You: Top tips for your financial life
Published March 29, 2018
Time to take inventory of your financial life. Where are you and where do you want to be?
? Write it down! Share your financial goals on social media, let your network hold you accountable
? Invest in Yourself! Learning, education, new skills, wealth management books and magazines
? Pay down your credit card debt, the fed just increased interest rates which means higher interest. Make it a goal to pay them off in full each month
? Start automatic savings and establish an emergency fund. Start with Small Goals $25 per week, 100 a month, 1200 a year
? Make a list of financial contacts and accounts in case of emergency
? Start with a fresh budget
o Know what's coming in and going out
o You can do this with mint.com or on a napkin
? Calculate your Net Worth
o It is your assets minus your liabilities
o Remember your net worth should not equal your self-worth, make it a goal to grow it every year
? Invest in your 401k
o Start with what your company matches, they now have automatically opt in to help us save better
o Max out if you can, Its $18,000 same as last year plus $6,000 catch up
o Increase it when you get a raise, you can set it now for when it happens later in the year
o Rebalance Now, it has been a year with highs and lows so your account will be out of balance
? Have a Save Day, call all your current bills and see if you can lower them by asking for discounts, shop around for health insurance which is a large percentage of most budgets
? Manage your credit
o Any money spent on late fees is wasted money, late payments can hurt your credit score, tools at credit karma and Experian credit chat to raise your scores
? Evaluate your Life Insurance, do you have enough?
? Tax Time is right around the corner, this is the perfect time to get your finances in order to save you time for taxes
? If you are taking RMD’s Required Minimum Distributions and don’t need them, set up a QCD Qualified Charitable Distribution. The charity wins and you lower your taxable income
? Visit a Pro, Meet with a Certified Financial Planner for an annual checkup or a financial plan at letsmakeaplan.org
Written by Cary Carbonaro, MBA, CFP®
Managing Director, United Capital, CFP Board Ambassador
Author of the Best Selling Wealth Management book, “The Money Queen’s Guide For Woman Who Want to Build Wealth and Banish Fear”
www.moneyqueenguide.com
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/new-year-new-you-top-tips-for-your-financial-life