10 Tips to Wrap Up Financial Awareness Month

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Admin • Feb 12, 2021

Woman Putting Dollar Note Into Piggy Bank — Baton Rouge, LA — Elite Financial Services, LLC

Make a monthly personal or household budget. Budgets help you spend your money more efficiently and responsibly. Budgets also give you more control over your finances.
Open a savings account. The rule of thumb is to have three to six months worth of your monthly expenses in your savings account. When creating your monthly budget, try to allocate 10% of your income to savings. If you want to save for something special (vacations, holidays, etc.) open a separate account. Most banks do not charge for multiple accounts.
Start saving for retirement now. With inflation the value of your dollar will be worth less in the future than it is now. And, with modern medicine the average life expectancy is longer. You won’t want to outlive your retirement income.
Check your credit score at least twice a year. You want to make sure no one has opened accounts in your name. If there are any negative factors on your report you can clear them up before they become bigger problems. Each credit bureau offers one free credit score a year.
If your credit is less than average you can build credit with a secured credit card or secured loan. You simply give your lender a deposit and they extend credit to you. As you make timely payments they report that the credit bureaus improving your credit score.
Make an extra mortgage payment toward your principal. Just one extra payment per year can take years off your mortgage.
Pay more than the minimum payment on your credit cards. Most times the minimum payment is only covering interest and your balance is staying the same from month to month. Only use about 30% of your available credit. This will help you maintain your good credit score and in case of emergencies you’ll have a backup resource.
Do something useful with your tax refund. Saving, investing, paying down debt or starting a business are just a few alternatives to blowing it on something temporary.
File your tax returns on time even if you owe. Filing on time will help you avoid the penalty for failure to file. And even though you will still accrue interest, setting up a payment plan if you can not afford to pay in full will decrease interest and penalties that you receive for failure to pay.
Invest in life insurance. Not only will your policy help your loved ones when the time comes, but depending on the type of policy you have you may be able use it to supplement income, borrow against it, or use it for investment purposes.

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