5 Personal Finance New Year’s Resolutions To Keep
With the beginning of a new year comes renewed hope. For individuals who have been struggling with personal finances in recent years, the new year represents an opportunity to take a moment and consider New Year’s resolutions geared towards getting their personal finances back on track or at the very least, improve their lot in life.
The Value of Personal Finance Resolutions
Generally, people live busy lives. They spend so much time focused on things like work, school, relationships and the kids that they often forget about keeping certain aspects of their lives in order. One area that always seems to be forgotten and certainly warrants scrutiny is one’s personal finance.
New Year’s is a great time for reflection. It gives people a chance to think a bit about the past and perhaps put in place plans for the future. With personal finances, planning is the only tried and true way to get out or stay out of trouble and establish long-term financial security.
5 Valuable Personal Finance New Year’s Resolutions
For many people, personal finances are an enigma. They don’t always understand things like investing, acquiring assets and the real impact of incurring too much debt. If you find yourself wondering what kinds of New Year’s resolutions you can make to improve and/or stabilize your personal finances, here are five that should be included on everyone’s list.
- Acquire One Meaningful Asset – One important way to create wealth is to acquire assets. Assets are things like real estate (land and houses), expensive jewelry, precious metals, whole-life insurance policies, stocks and bonds. It wouldn’t include things like boats and cars because a meaningful asset should be considered something that has a reasonable chance to appreciate over time. While many of the items listed above are thought of as investments, they are in fact also assets for the duration of time they are in your possession.
- Meet With a Professional Financial Adviser – The handling of personal finances is not something that is taught in school. Unless you have studied business and/or economics, you might find yourself uncomfortable making important decisions related to your personal finances. If that’s the case, you could certainly benefit by a consultation with a professional financial adviser who would help educate you in the art of creating financial stability.
- Write a Will – Far too many people are under the impression that wills are only necessary for wealthy individuals. In fact, everyone should have some type of will to help facilitate the placement of assets and personal belongings in case of death. If you fulfill the New Year’s resolution listed as #1, you will have at least one asset worth protecting.
- Consolidate Consumer Debt – If you are like most people, you probably have too many credit cards and/or outstanding personal loans. A debt consolidation loan is a great way to pare down your number of unsecured creditors while securing a lower aggregate interest rate on your debt. You might also be able to lower your monthly payments, creating more cash to purchase assets.
- Education – One of the best investments you can make is in yourself. If you are willing to makes sacrifices and pursue higher levels of education, you could exponentially improve your employment prospects for the future. A better job with more pay gives more options and flexibility when planning for life and retirement.
If you haven’t done so in the past, this is the best year to start making New Year’s resolutions related to your personal finances. You might not keep all your promises, but everyone you do keep will provide additional financial security in your life.
