If the thought of deep diving into your financial assets has you feeling stressed, you aren’t alone. In a survey of over 19,000 adults in the US, 60 percent of respondents reported feeling anxious whenever they thought about their personal finances. Moreover, 50 percent of these respondents said they felt stress upon talking about their finances.
Managing your finances doesn’t have to be such a cause for concern. Your finances should support your ambitions and care for your loved ones, not add to your workload. Here are three ways to remove some of the complexities of finances.
1. Consolidate and Streamline Your Accounts
Whether you are living your best independent life, have a growing family, or are nearing retirement, you’ve likely seen how quickly you can accrue more financial accounts than you need. So why not consolidate these accounts for a simpler look at your finances?
For example, if you have had more than one employer, you might have several 401(k) accounts. After you part ways with a company, if you forget to roll over your 401(k), you may be subject to fees your former employer may cover. However, when you roll this over, you can keep these fees to a minimum and combine all your finds into a single, unified location.
The same is true for savings and checking accounts and any other assets or insurance policies you have as well.
When you consolidate your accounts, it is far simpler to see exactly where you are on your path toward reaching your life goals. You get a clear, at-a-glance understanding of how to get where you want to be.
2. Tackle (Or Even Combine) Your Debt
Especially if you have multiple debts or loans, you must make numerous monthly payments to manage them. And all that interest you’re paying on these debts prevents you from reaching financial freedom for yourself and your family.
There are several ways to pay off debt, but having a strategy can make the whole process feel easier.
- You may choose to pay off your smallest debts first, then once these debts are paid, allocate the same total from those monthly payments toward your largest debts.
- You may opt to pay the debts with the largest interest rates first to reduce the total cost of the debt by paying the least amount of interest.
- You may decide to consolidate your debts with a lower interest rate and only a single payment each month.
If you’re looking to reorganize your bills and shorten your to-do list each month, debt consolidation gives you a single payment with only one due date each month. The result? More time to focus on what matters most to you.
3. Automate Savings to Suit Your Financial Strategy
Free yourself from having to remember to deposit money into a savings or retirement account each month and regain more time to spend with the important people in your life. Instead, you can automate your savings in just a few steps so that money is automatically transferred each month into the accounts that help you reach your goals and provide a sense of security.
Even small amounts each month can add up over time, so your savings can gradually grow—without taking the time to do it yourself. You can also partner with a financial planner to help set up these automated tasks to fit your long-term financial goals.
By working with a planner to establish these automated transfers, the transfers can fit into a larger strategy in which your finances serve you, your family, your core values, and your financial goals.
Let’s Collaborate
What is the best way to streamline your finances? Let us help.
At Fingerlakes Wealth Management, we believe that life should be about much more than paying bills or examining your investment portfolio. So we’ll help you build a strategy that works for you, not the other way around. While we’re helping you invest in your dreams and values, you get to live your life.
Our goal is to help you meet yours. Are you ready to learn more about how we can help you? Connect with our team today.
