Tips to Improve Your Financial Health

This is a great time to have a conversation about your financial health. We’ve recently reviewed the market effects of January and addressed some changes to be mindful of while you plan for your financial future. I think we should step up, regroup, and take a look at 5 steps you can take right now to better prepare yourself.

Ideal Situations for Your Financial Health

• Steady Flow of Income
• Growing Cash Balance
• Creating a Diverse Portfolio
• No Sudden Changes
• Regular Expenses

For many people, it can be hard to get to a point where you can achieve all 5 of these financial health tips. We understand that some people are wondering how to get to this point at all. If you’re in the Springfield, Missouri area, I’d love for you to drop by our office. And if you’re further away, I can always accommodate a Zoom meeting or a phone call. We offer no-cost consultation to figure out where you are in your financial trajectory so we can identify where you might have the potential for improvement. Here are some things we might talk about during our meeting.

1. Review Your Process

When you’re reviewing your financial health, it’s important to take note of what you’re doing (or not doing) consistently. Write down your spending and saving habits as they are now, and write down what your goals will be moving forward. This will help focus your spending behavior so you’ll see more predictability and progress.

2. Identity Unnecessary Expenses

Once you start evaluating your spending habits, you’ll start to notice where your unnecessary expenses come from. I always recommend monitoring your bank statements and bills for any errors as well. We do it here at The Resource Center, and I do it in my personal life as well. Being mindful of your everyday spending very often helps you to realize if some of your expenses aren’t really necessary.

3. Automate Savings or Investments

When you set up an automated savings account, you create a “habit” of saving or investing. The best part is the time-saving component. When your savings are automated, a portion of your income is automatically set aside. I suggest checking in on your savings account periodically to see if it’s growing the way you’d like. Another way to set up a passive habit is to ask more questions about your employer’s retirement plan. If you’re not taking advantage of it or if you have any questions about the risks and benefits, I’d be happy to chat with you!

 

Tips to Improve Your Financial Health (Part 2)

For anyone who follows us on Dollars & $ense, you’ll know that I split this conversation into 2 separate videos. Here’s where we picked up in Part 2!

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4. Identify Your “Buckets” of Cash

Short Term: What are your monthly expenses?

Medium-Range: How much are you spending on upcoming events, vacations, and upgrades?

Long-Term: What are you putting away towards your retirement savings?

5. Strengthen Your Emergency Reserves

One of the things that we’ve learned over the last two years is that life can be uncertain. I’ve talked to a lot of people who’ve had to fall back on their “reserve” cash. Your financial health can feel stressful if you’re not sure whether or not you can take care of yourself financially.

If you’re able to, we always encourage our clients to prepare for unexpected changes in their income or expenses. Even if it’s only $5 or $10 a week, that could add up to be hundreds of dollars by the end of the year. Before you know it, you might be feeling much better about your ability to recover from financial loss.

I encourage all of my clients to review these five facets of their financial health. Our tagline is: “Simple Solutions in a Complex World.” If there’s anything that we can do to make this process easier for you, swing by and come see me.

Contact Us

Phone: 417-882-1800

Email: info@resourcecenter.com

Visit Us: 1304 E. Kingsley St, Springfield, MO 65804

Monday-Friday

8:30AM – 5:30PM

 

Catch Bruce Porter’s show Dollars & $ense Tuesdays at 3 pm on KOLR’s Ozarks Live

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