Most people have pretty unremarkable financial lives. You’re probably not being crushed with debt, and you’re probably not independently wealthy. If you’re somewhere in the middle, you’ve got a decent handle on your personal finances, but you could probably stand to improve in certain ways. Here are some recommendations for improvements you could make in 2017. These make great New Year’s Resolutions, and they’ll be sure to have you in better financial standing when 2018 comes around the bend.
Keep an eye on your money
Without regular oversight, it’s impossible to know what your money is doing. This happens in a lot of ways. First you need a budget. But a budget alone isn’t enough. Budgets need maintenance. This requires new budgeteers to regularly check their financial accounts, preferably once a day. When you start doing this, you are likely to find a lot of expenses that you forgot about, or that you never knew existed. The first kind you can control through personal effort, and the other one you can correct with the right phone calls. Examples include fraud from a stolen credit card number, or starting a PPI claim after you learn that insurance payments that you never wanted were being drawn from your bank account every month.
Start getting serious about saving
The other side of the saving coin is handling debt. If you have debt, it’s impossible to save in a meaningful way. Debt grows on its own through interest. If you are used to relying on debt, as we tend to do when we spend with our credit cards, it can be a difficult habit to break. But if you are ever going to improve your financial situation, you’ve got to get a hold of this. Work to pay off your credit card and other debt as quickly as you can. Then take those payments and put them into saving. You’ll be creating wealth this way, wealth which can be used for many different purposes.
Invest
Investing is an important part of the mature financial life. It’s how we take the money we have and growing it without constantly having to put effort into its maintenance. Companies like Vanguard and Betterment. These companies can help you open a tax-protected account like an IRA. If you already maximize your deposits to tax-sheltered accounts like these, it might be the time to open up a taxable account. If you have a lot of cash just sitting around, it makes sense to put it into an account where it can grow, even if you don’t have an immediate purpose for it.
There are bunches of ways to improve your financial situation in 2017, but these are some of the most important and practical. If you establish good habits in the coming months, you can be assured that you will set yourself up for long term success in your financial future. Happy new year!
