Personal Finance New Year’s Resolutions
December 27, 2011
Here are a few ideas for you to consider as Personal Finance New Year’s Resolutions:
1. Review all of your insurance policies. When it comes to your health, life, auto, and homeowners policies, do you have too little or much coverage? Also, don’t wait until the policy is about to expire before you shop around. Most of the time, when you switch companies and cancel your existing insurance policy you receive a refund for the unused portion.
2. Create a few specific savings goals for 2012. Create a plan that includes specific dates and dollar amounts. Create rewards for achieving each goal. Make sure you stick to the plan no matter what. You might want to contribute more than your budgeted amount each time period so when (not if) you have a tough financial month, you won’t fall behind on your savings goals.
3. Start getting serious about retirement planning. Don’t put it off another year or week for that matter. People are living longer than ever which is a good thing, but you don’t want to run out of money when you’re 85 or 90.
4. Educate your children about money so they can support you when you get old. Teaching them how to be financially successful is a powerful gift that keeps giving for years to come. It’s not an “Order online once” type of gift, but like most things in life, the more time and effort you spend, the better the results.
5. Max out your pre-tax savings opportunities instead of maxing out your credit cards. If your company offers a 401K plan, sign up. If you already contribute, increase your contribution. Also consider taking advantage of another powerful pre-tax savings tool – IRAs. Both of these allow you to invest your money before the government takes their cut out of your paycheck which can really add up to big dollars over time.
6. Work on paying off all of your credit card debt. Do more than just doubling your minimum payment. Start paying off big chunks of the highest interest credit card balances first. Start with a reasonable monthly amount and then increase it a little every month. When you calculate how much money you spend a year on credit card interest, you’ll instantly begin shock therapy and start spending only what you can afford to pay off at the end of each month.
Garrett Jay is a Money Coach who offers private money coaching via Skype and innovative financial literacy school programs. He is the author of “Goodbye Money – 1,000 Ways to Waste It, or Not”, and Executive Producer of Amazon Bestseller, “Intro to Money” DVD for students.
Also check out TeachMoneyNow.com.
