Regardless of the time of year, it is always a good time to commit to some new financial planning resolutions.  Although many of these resolutions are made around the New Year, you can start yours at any time during the year.  Below are some common and good financial planning resolutions for the New Year and beyond.

(1) Save more money than you spend.  Financial planners and probably your parents have been saying it for years, “live within or under your means, not beyond them.”  This means that you should be spending less money on a monthly basis than you are making.  By living within or under your means, you will find that you have more money to contribute to your savings every month.  Similarly, by spending less money on going out to eat, seeing new movies and the like, you will have more money to pay down debt throughout the year.

(2) Spend more time focusing on your monthly finances to make necessary adjustments.  A lot of people take the time to set a month budget, but fail to re-adjust their budget as their financial needs change.  A good resolution is to sit down once a month and re-evaluate your monthly spending and savings.  If you have investments, this is a good time to review how these things are progressing as well and make changes if the investments are not working out well.

(3) Start a retirement savings plan.  Surprisingly, most people do not start a retirement savings plan as early as they should.  Many wait until their thirties to even start thinking about how they are going to afford their retirement years.  If your place of employment offers a retirement savings plan with automatic deductions from your payroll, it would be wise to sign up for this plan and begin saving right away.  You may also wish to open a high interest savings account to make regular deposits into for your future retirement.  Retirement contributions should be considered a monthly expense and paid into as you would pay any other monthly expense.  The importance of regular contributions into your retirement savings cannot be over stated.

 

Author Bio: Elizabeth Roque is an in-house writer for Franklin Debt Relief. She presents information about debt relief programs, credit card debt reduction and getting out of debt on a variety of financial sites online.

{ 0 comments }

Is Credit Consolidation The Right Answer?

by guest on March 21, 2012

When faced with debt problems, the average consumer may consider many different options to help eliminate the issue. If you find yourself in this situation, you may look at options such as debt settlement, credit counselling and credit consolidation. In many cases, credit consolidation is the best approach to take. What is this process and how does it work?

What is Credit Consolidation?

Credit consolidation is a process in which you put all of your debts together into one account. This is accomplished by borrowing money from a new source such as a home-equity loan or a credit card. Then the borrowed money is used to pay off and close all of your other debt accounts. You’re then left with just one debt payment to make every month.

Why it Helps

One reason that consolidating that is so popular is because it can save you money on a monthly basis. In many cases, when you borrow money to pay off your other accounts, you extend the repayment term of the debt and get a cheaper interest rate. For example, if you use a home-equity loan, you might extend the repayment term to 20 years or more. By doing this, it gives you a lower monthly payment as compared to what you were paying before. By getting a cheaper interest rate, it also helps you get a lower payment to work with. Over the course of the repayment, you may save thousands of dollars in interest as well.

Saving Your Credit

When you use debt consolidation, it may help you keep your credit intact compared to some of the other options out there. For example, when you use debt settlement or bankruptcy to handle your debt, your credit score will be damaged significantly. By using debt consolidation, you are not doing anything that negatively affects your creditors. You are simply repackaging the debt so that it is easier for you to handle. You are paying off multiple accounts and opening a new account, which should not hurt your credit.

Getting the Money

Although credit consolidation is a valid strategy, you may have a hard time finding enough money from a new source to pay off all of your old accounts. In this situation, you may have to look at many different options to come up with the money you need. If a home-equity loan or a home-equity line of credit is not available, you may need to look at personal loans or opening a new credit card account with a big balance.

Considerations

If you are new to the idea of debt consolidation and you’d like some guidance, there are a number of sources you can turn to for help. For example, Paying Paul is one site that you can check out to get detailed information or to seek out help. Working with a debt consolidation company can help you find the money you need to consolidate and get your debt situation under control. Just make sure to choose a reputable debt relief company to work with so you can avoid problems.

This Guest Article comes from : Creditcarddebtchampions.com

{ 0 comments }

Simultaneous benefit with Tax Deferred Annuity

October 18, 2011

Are you really feeling worried about life after retirement? No, in most cases, life doesn’t go so smoothly, but, yes and yes there’s hope. All of these remains are based on your projected savings. During your working year’s you should try to save the maximum amount possible. Then, just after retirement go on investing the [...]

Read the full article →

Retirement Annuity – A High-scoring Investment Tool to Grab Opulence

October 18, 2011

Summary : With retirement annuity, you can always improve your financial standards and remain stable till the last day of your life. Just a couple of hours ago you checked your bank account and got disappointed to know that your current pension is still in the queue. Your tension is gradually mounting up in the [...]

Read the full article →

Get a Student Loan to Overcome Monetary Burdens

October 18, 2011

In this world of rat race, education can only help you tackle the diverse challenges of life. Economically backward students always dream to gain education despite knowing that it’s only money that can make your dream come true. Keeping in mind the needs and requirements of such individuals, banks and many other financial institutions have [...]

Read the full article →

Make Quick Money To Pay Off Christmas Debt

October 11, 2011

Christmas is a season when credit card debt grows thicker. The fun and merriment of this time should not be marred anyway by our worrying concern over petty financial issues. Expenses are naturally greater in this as you buy gifts for your friends and families. However, it could be wise to pay off your debt [...]

Read the full article →

Points Of Sale Helps To Improve Your Business

October 11, 2011

With the increasing competitive pressure of the world economy and wafer thin margins and higher occupation costs, the margins are really sticky. Then there is the unpredictable supply base and present challenges. All this should be tackled in an integrated way to increase the profit margins of the business. Integrated retail outlets understands this problems [...]

Read the full article →

Stafford loan: Fight the Angst of Expensive Education

October 11, 2011

Education is gradually becoming more and more expensive. Therefore, pursuing financial assistance for continuing to the higher studies is very much in the current scenario. In such circumstances a Stafford loan must be your first preference. Let us discuss about it in details. What is a Stafford loan? This is federal student loan which has [...]

Read the full article →

Improve your Retired Lifestyle with Equity Release

October 11, 2011

Do you want to enjoy your retirement? Well, your answer must be obviously ‘yes’. So, if you are thinking positive, you must go for a prospective retirement plan. Why kill time in knowing about pensions or stocks and bonds? Rather, devote time to the schemes to release equity against your property. Well, it’s human nature [...]

Read the full article →

Ways To Get Personal Bank Loan,Simplified!

October 6, 2011

Steps To Acquire A Personal Bank Loan   1.Research your current fiscal condition according to your assets,monthly income,debts and any other monetary liabilities. 2.Get a certificate from your present employer attesting your monthly salary and job security.Show your salary slips and your bank statements if you are paid directly through your account. 3.Do a market [...]

Read the full article →