With spring cleaning on everyone’s mind, now is the perfect time to do a financial spring cleaning, as well. Organizing your finances is an important activity to do at least once a year to make sure you are budgeting correctly and that your money is growing the way you would like it to. Here are a few key areas where you can clean up and organize your finances so they continue to serve your needs and goals.
Examine Your Budget
Budgeting may be the first thing to come to mind when you think about organizing your finances. Budgets are useful, but they are not meant to be stagnant. Budgets exist to serve you and your financial needs, and as those needs change, so should your budget. It’s good and healthy to make changes to your budget as you need to–maybe you don’t need to be as restrictive in certain areas, maybe you need to add a new category or take one away. Are you making more money now? Less money? Have you taken on more debt or finished paying something off? Maybe you’ve had a baby and need to spend on a whole new person? All of these scenarios and more are good reasons to go back to your budget and change things up to suit your current situation.
Diversify Investments
Saving money through investments is a smart idea, but investing in just one place isn’t a good recipe for healthy growth. You never know how one particular stock or account will do each year, and it’s wise to have some of your money in safer, slower-growing accounts as well as riskier, higher-potential accounts. This way, no matter what happens, you’re prepared for a variety of financial scenarios. A big part of organizing your finances is deciding where to invest your money.
Open a High-Yield Savings Account
A high-yield savings account is something we have spoken about before, and it’s a valuable asset to add to your portfolio. As a savings account, it’s a safe place to store your money without risk of losing it like in the stock market, but the interest earning potential is much higher than a traditional savings account. This means that, without you doing anything, your money will noticeably grow in a high-yield savings account.
Revisit Your Financial Goals
As your needs and ambitions change, so should your financial goals. There may be some goals you can take off your list if you’ve already accomplished them, and new goals may need to be added. Maybe you were saving for a down payment, and you’ve since bought a house. Now, you might be putting away finances for an expensive vacation, or a new car, or to send your kids to college. In fact, you might be saving for multiple things at once. That’s why it’s wise to revisit your financial goals from time to time and update them to reflect your current needs.
Organizing Your Finances is Easy with the Team at DeSantis, Kiefer, Shall & Sarcone
At DeSantis, Kiefer, Shall & Sarcone, our team of financial experts can help with organizing your finances so you can maintain financial health and stay on a path of growth and achievement. Reach out to us at your convenience so we can get you onto the path of financial success!
