While you can always reassess your financial planning at any time, an ideal time to do it is at the end of the year. It will provide the clearest picture of your financial situation and help you decide on any wealth management services you might need for the new year.
Below are a few simple ways you can start improving your financial stability.
Take a Closer Look at Your Budget
It’s highly likely at least one category of expenses has changed for you this year for better or worse. Maybe even your average amount spent on any one type of expense has gone up or down. No matter what changes have happened in your budget, they’re worth a closer look at as to why they were higher or lower than usual.
Specific categories of expenses to look at would be your average cost of groceries (to budget for accordingly next year), gas bills, and personal or surprise expenses you could mitigate.
Investigate Wealth Management Services
It’s never too late to start investing in your future. One of the best ways to do this is through opportunities like wealth management services.
For instance, at OCU, we sit down with you and collect the necessary information related to your current situation and analyze it with respect to your goals, needs, and priorities. Everyone has different levels of comfort regarding their finances, so we want to make sure we have a complete understanding of your personal situation so we can make recommendations that are logical and thought-out. We’ll then discuss and mutually agree on how actions will be taken, implement personalized strategies for you, and assign any responsibilities and time frames to your goals.
Reduce Debt With a Plan of Action
Whether it’s student loans, car payments, or a mortgage, there are always ways to reduce and plan for debt. If you can count on income or additional cash flow through a bonus or raise that’s guaranteed to come in next year you can use that knowledge and factor that into paying back any debt you have faster.
For example, you could add additional income and split it across each month to find out how much more you will have in your bank account each month. With that understanding, you’ll know how much more you could pay back on your monthly debts.
You could also look into consolidating your debt into a single loan, so you’re not juggling interest rates or having to keep track of payment times.
Invest in Your Own Well-Being
Finally, if you haven’t already thought about it, why not plan out your own well-being for the year? If you have company benefits take advantage of them, especially if they cover health expenses like vision, oral health, or massage therapy. They could even include retirement benefits for you to look into investing in. If you know you’re going to be using these up or going to make appointments regularly, add them to your financial plan for the year.
Overall, any steps you can take to get prepared for the new year are good ones, but even more so when you’re helping plan out your finances.