The Year in Review – Take a look and review your financial strategies from the last year. This can be a benchmark to start your financial goals for the New Year. Einstein can be quoted as saying, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. Don’t take your 2019 financial mistakes into 2020.
Make a Plan – Whether you are making a plan to tackle your debt, maximize your IRA contributions or re-balance your investment portfolio, before the start of 2020, you should have a financial plan in place. Ask yourself important questions about your future and plan accordingly. If you're not sure where to start, think about contacting a financial advisor.
Have the Financial Conversation – It’s important to have frequent conversations about your financial goals with your significant other. Have the talk about paying bills, spending money, investing and planning. It’s better to work as a team to overcome financial roadblocks. It can also help to reach out to close friends and family, because they will be able to hold you accountable for your spending.
Debt Boot Camp - Whip your finances into shape with Debt Boot Camp email courses. If you struggle with creating budgets and sticking to them or even paying off debt, online email courses might be for you. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers a Get a Handle on Debt Boot Camp tailored to helping people reach their financial goals.
Financial Literacy – Make it a goal to read a few financial books this year. It will improve your financial knowledge so you can make informative decisions. The same goes if you want to learn how to cook or master a craft. Pick up a book on what you're interested in and spend a couple hours a week practicing. If you’re constantly gaining knowledge on a subject, it limits the potential for errors or setbacks.
Be Realistic – If you were nowhere near your financial goals in 2019, be realistic about the goals you set in 2020. Starting with small steps will limit the potential of failure in reaching goals. Average out how much you’ve spent over the past few months and set a realistic goal of decreasing that amount by about 15 percent.
As the New Year dawns upon us, it’s time to prepare your new financial goals. You might not have reached all your goals in 2019, but with implementing a few of these methods you could turn your financial goals into achievements in 2020.
Hopefully you found these tips helpful. If you have any other tips or ideas, please share them here. Happy Holidays!
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