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Financial Resolutions That
Will Simplify Your Life
In our complicated world, there are a lot of things we have to do on a regular basis.
Filling out your tax returns, renewing your auto licenses, and paying property taxes
are just a few things you must do. So, it makes sense to try to simplify your life.
Here are 12 goals (one each month) that you can work on in 2013.
1) Simplify the way you handle your day-to-day finances.
Set up your bills to be paid automatically via some sort of
automatic payment. Set up your savings contributions to be
automatically deducted from your payroll or from your checking
account.
2) Create an emergency fund. Car maintenance, appliance
replacements, and other repairs aren’t such a big problem if
you have money set aside. Build your emergency fund up to
an amount that is enough so that you can pay three months
of fixed expenses from it.
3) Organize your financial records. When you are organizing
your 2012 tax records, get all of your financial records sorted
and filed. Cull through old records and determine what should
be destroyed and what should be saved.
4) Set up a monthly budget and stick to it.
5) Become more knowledgeable about financial matters.
Purchase a good book on financial planning and READ IT.
The more knowledgeable you are about financial matters, the
more likely you are to be financially successful. For women,
check out Prince Charming Isn’t Coming, by Barbara Stanny.
The subtitle is “How Women Get Smart About Money.” This
is a great book designed to equip women with psychological
and financial tools that will help them take control of their
financial futures.
6) Set up a college savings fund for your children, grandchildren,
or great-grandchildren. Check into your statesponsored
529 Plan and set one up. Most plans start with
contributions of as little as $25.
7) Review all of your insurance plans – Life, health, disability,
homeowners, and long-term care plans. New features
and benefits are continuously developed, but your old contract
may not have the latest features. Sit down with your advisor
FINANCIAL PLANNING MATTERS
By Julie Cole, CFP®, FLMI
Annuity Product Manager
and see if you have enough insurance and that you have all the
features you need.
8) Create a retirement plan. One in five retirees acknowledges
that they did no planning before they retired. Fifty percent did
no planning until about 12 months before they retired. That
leaves only 30% of us who sit down, work though the numbers,
and make a retirement plan. Zig Ziglar has a saying – “If you
aim for nothing, you will hit it every time.”
9) Create or update a will. Fifty percent of people die without
a will - leaving their families and loved ones subject to estates
that are settled according to state laws.
10) Pay down debt. Fidelity investments surveyed 1,018
baby-boomers that recently retired from their jobs (because
of a voluntary retirement, lay-off, or disability). Forty-eight
percent of them are entering retirement with significant debt,
primarily home mortgage payments, car loans, or student loans
for themselves, their spouse, or their children.
11) Sharpen the Saw. Stephen Covey coined the phrase as a
metaphor to updating your skills and knowledge. A lumberjack
would never attempt to cut down a tree without first sharpening
his saw blade. If a lack of training is hindering your ability
to advance in your career or make more income, spend time
and energy updating your skills and making yourself more
attractive to employers.
12) Just do it. Procrastination and waiting for everything to
be perfect before starting something new is just an excuse for
doing nothing. Start working on a new goal and stick with it
until it becomes a habit. Financial success is a result of many
small steps that lead to long-term financial peace and harmony.
Wishing you a happy, prosperous, and financially worryfree
2013.
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