Personal Finance Coach: Spring Clean Your Finances
TrustPlus Personal Finance Coach Elise Nussbaum says the “beginning of spring is an excellent time to take stock of ways you can make your own life more pleasant, manageable, and secure” by planning for your tax refund and reviewing your credit report, spending, and beneficiaries.
All too often, we put off the tasks that would make our own lives easier, in favor of taking care of the more pressing needs of those around us. The beginning of spring is an excellent time to take stock of ways you can make your own life more pleasant, manageable, and secure.
The annual ritual of spring cleaning your home is a great way to greet the return of warm weather by scrubbing off and sweeping out the dirt and doldrums of winter. Now is also a great time to look over your finances in the brighter sunlight, and perform some simple maintenance that will set you up for financial stability over the rest of the year.
If you are expecting a refund, make sure to file as soon as possible, to ensure that you receive your money in a timely manner. If you are getting a refund, what are your plans for it? Consider paying down credit card debt, or building your emergency fund. You can also use your tax returns to plan for the coming year: if you ended up owing money, you may want to have more money withheld from your paychecks over the coming year. If you are getting a large refund, it may be more beneficial to reduce your withholding, so that you can see some of that money in your paychecks over time. If your household income is under $58,000, you can get free help with your tax returns through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
Review your credit report through Credit Karma, annualcreditreport.com, or your TrustPlus web application. Make sure you recognize every account on the report — if you don’t recognize it, your TrustPlus coach can help you dispute it. Remember that paying your bills on time and keeping your credit card balances low (under 30% of your limit) are the two most important things you can do to protect your credit score.
If you have minor children, it’s especially important to have a will, which specifies who their guardian should be. But it’s important to know that no matter what your will says, money from your retirement accounts, bank accounts, and life insurance policies will pass to the named beneficiary, whoever that may be. Take a moment to review the beneficiaries on these and any other relevant documents, and make sure your current wishes are reflected here.
Sit down with your credit card statements and make sure you recognize every transaction. Make sure that your spending aligns with what you actually value. Are there subscriptions that seemed like a great idea at the time, but are only still on the list because you never got around to canceling them? One simple trick is to go ahead and cancel any monthly subscription that you are not actively using, giving yourself permission to start it back up at a later date if you find you miss it. Paying only for what you actually use can save you hundreds of dollars a year.
Spring cleaning your finances can sometimes raise more questions than it answers. A TrustPlus coach can help you talk through your larger goals and understand how your current actions fit into that larger picture, as well as help you avoid any pitfalls along the way. Having the objectivity and expertise of a financial coach on your side can make a huge difference in achieving your goals. You provide your care, energy and expertise to others–isn’t it time you received that level of care with your finances?
