It’s easy to feel underwater with one’s finances. Money is the framework for a lot of American life, and some feel anxious about getting theirs under control. In reality, it’s not that difficult to streamline your finances, especially if you’re in the early or middle stages of your career.
Money needs to be a little demystified. It’s a means to an end, an important component to attain your ambitions and goals. When you have a chance to streamline your finances, you could find other goals and interests falling into place and becoming clearer.
Getting your financial affairs in order is an accomplishment. Here are three ways to streamline your finances and get the clarity to move forward.
1. Consolidate Your Accounts
Even if you’ve only started your career, you probably have a few financial accounts to your name. Along with your basic checking and savings, you may have multiple credit accounts, health accounts, and insurance policies. If you’re mid-career and have changed jobs a few times, you may have a couple of 401(k) plans under past employers that are no longer being funded.
Consolidating your accounts as much as you can reduces paperwork, cuts back on fees, and makes it easier to make more informed decisions. Look at all your accounts, choose only a few financial institutions (one bank, one brokerage, one insurer, and so forth), and transfer your balances over.
Strongly consider rolling over 401(k) accounts from former employers into a single traditional or Roth IRA. A financial advisor can help you make the conversion and help you manage your investments.
2. Automate Your Contributions and Bill Payments
Staying consistent with contributions to savings and investment accounts is a major part of making them successful. But it’s easy to forget about it. Long-term funding of retirement or savings accounts (where there’s no immediate payoff) doesn’t come naturally to many people.
Fortunately, it’s easy to set up automatic contributions from your checking or debit account, especially if your employer uses direct deposit to compensate you. You can make regular transfers from your account to investment and retirement funds or high-yield savings accounts. Even minimal regular contributions can add up over time and bolster compound interest earnings.
If you’re in a position to automate payments for monthly bills for utilities, mortgage, car loans, and insurance, think seriously about doing so. This supports timely payments and staves off late fees.
3. Manage Your Debt
Excessive debt creates an obstacle for many people. Especially if you’ve incurred responsibility for multiple debts or taken out several loans, the interest you’ve generated can add up and make moving forward extremely difficult.
Getting out from underneath debt is entirely possible with a dedicated strategy. If it’s feasible, the strongest approach is to first tackle high-interest debt, such as credit accounts, unsecured loans, and payday loans. If your resources are limited, however, you can pay off the smallest debts first and gradually move on to bigger ones as your situation improves.
To streamline your finances even more, you can consolidate all your debt balances into one single loan with monthly payments. This may reduce your overall interest rate and help you pay off debt more quickly.
Streamline Your Finances With Professional Advice
Prosperity Financial Solutions can help you build a strategy to streamline your finances and unlock your long-term potential. Whether you’ve just started putting away money or retirement is just around the corner, when you contact us, we take a look at your personal situation, income, and financial goals to find opportunities for growth and savings.
Call (561) 207-6213 or (866) 656-2050, email ramsden@brookstoneadvisor.com, or book a 30-minute complimentary call online.
About David
David Wilcox is president and cofounder of Prosperity Financial Solutions, a financial services firm, based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, specializing in retirement planning, estate planning, and investments. Since 1987, David has been assisting pre-retirees, retirees, and investors with comprehensive retirement planning, helping them preserve their wealth, increase their retirement income, and avoid common financial mistakes. Prioritizing financial education, he employs strategies to instill confidence and comfort in his clients as they make decisions and move toward their ideal financial future. He also highly values building relationships with clients and strives to make them feel like part of his family.
David holds an associate’s degree from Broward College, a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, as well as the Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF®) and Long-Term Care (CLTC®) certifications. A firm believer in professional education and participation, he is a member of the Global Financial Association, a member of NAIFA (National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors), and is a Certified National Long-Term Care instructor. Teaching and mentoring other financial advisors, David presents dozens of seminars and workshops on long-term care and investment planning throughout the country. Outside of the office, family man David enjoys golfing, fitness, and spending time with his kids on the boat, going for long walks, and traveling to new places. He wants to provide a positive example for his children and show them that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. To learn more about David, connect with him on LinkedIn.
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC (BCM). a registered investment advisor. BCM and Prosperity Financial Solutions are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.