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Money Matters
Ten Ways to Simplify Your Financial Life
Finances
can be a pretty daunting, and a lot of times we ignore them
because we just don’t want to face them. Well, here's some
news… if you want to improve your financial health you need to
pay attention to it and start having your money work for you.
Below is a checklist that is meant to help you get on the right
track and to help you simplify your finances, but is not meant
to take the place of a professional financial advisor. Print it
out and review it with your financial advisor and add/ remove
any steps they recommend.
-Get out a piece of paper and write down what you want out of
your money. You need to know what you want before you can create
it. Don't be afraid to state what you really want. It has been
said that Jim Carrey wrote himself a check for 20 million
dollars and carried it around until he reached his goal.
-Design a roadmap to your retirement. Most people have no idea
how much money they will need at retirement. Your age at
retirement, income you will need, years to retirement and how
much you already have put way are key components for mapping out
a proper path. In addition, it is a good idea to analyze your
risk tolerance to ensure your investment strategy matches your
risk capacity.
-Make appointments with the specialists. Make appointments with
financial planners, accountants, lawyers and anyone else you
need to help you create a long-term financial plan. Find people
who you can trust and provide you with workable solutions. Look
for one advisor who is willing to act as a quarterback for the
financial team you are assembling. Too often there is a lack of
coordination between the tax, legal, banking, insurance, and
investment elements of your plan. Ask questions of your
advisors, don't just accept what is said at face value. This is
your future and it is important to understand what is being
said.
-Sign up for on-line banking. This is a lifesaver. You can pay
your bills online, set up automatic payments, and download your
account information into financial software such as Quicken or
Microsoft Money. This will simplify your bill paying process and
save you valuable time every month.
-Pay every monthly bill you can thorough automatic payment. Your
mortgage, car payment, utility bills, phone bills, etc can all
be paid through automatic payment. Take the time and set it up,
you will simplify your bill paying process and never have to
worry about late fees again.
-Start putting money away in your 401 k. Most employers offer a
401 K and have some sort of matching program. We are talking
about free money here! Would you pass up a $100 bill in the
street? What are you waiting for? With that being said, even
without the employer match, this is the most efficient way to
save money since it is done pre-tax. For most people when saving
pre-tax, $20 out of every $100 saved is really coming from the
money you would have normally sent to the U.S. government.
-Pay yourself first. Start saving money every month. Regardless
of how much you can afford. Even if it is only $25, have it
automatically deducted from your checking account into a mutual
fund or money market account every month. Treat it like a bill.
It adds up. You have worked hard for your money, and you deserve
to keep some of it. The most successful people at retirement are
the people that paid themselves first and paid their bills
second.
-Create a Slush fund. Create a slush fund to use for fun and
exciting treats and outings. Some tips to trick yourself into
saving: 1) Every time you get change put it into a jar, people
have been known to pay for vacations this way. 2) Every time you
buy something and get change save your 1's or 5's and deposit it
into your slush fund account at the end of every month.
-Pay off your debt. Yep, this is the big one. Step one- Stop
using the cards. Step two- establish a set amount that you pay
each month and pay it. It is a good idea to talk this over with
your advisor, he or she may have some creative ideas to
consolidate your debt and help you pay it off more quickly. An
added bonus, your purchases will mean so much more to you if you
pay cash.
-Review your goals and your progress monthly or quarterly. This
is one of those things in life that if you don't pay attention,
it can easily get away from you. Your long-term goals and
progress towards them should be reviewed annually, preferably
with an advisor. Your interim progress on setting aside money
and paying off dept is best reviewed monthly and quarterly.
Hopefully this list will help you get on the right financial
path and simplify some of tasks we don't enjoy. The trick to
meeting not only your financial goals, but any goal is to: 1) Be
clear about what you want, 2) Simplify everything that you can,
3) Create action, 4) Review your progress and 5) Count your
blessings.
Visit Jennifer Ottolino at
http://coachjen.com/
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