Simplify Your Financial Life in the New Year

The new year is a perfect time to streamline your financial life, reduce stress, and create a system that works for you. Simplifying how you manage your finances not only saves time but can also help you stay on top of your goals and avoid costly mistakes. These practical tips will help you start the year off right.

1. Set Up Direct Deposit
Skip trips to the bank and ensure your paychecks, Social Security benefits, or other income sources go straight into your account. Direct deposit is fast, secure, and reduces the chance of lost or delayed payments.

2. Automate Bill Payments
Avoid missed deadlines, interest charges, and late fees by setting up automatic payments for recurring bills like utilities, credit cards, and mortgage payments. Many banks and service providers offer this feature, so you can “set it and forget it.”

3. Consolidate Accounts
If you’re juggling multiple checking, savings, or retirement accounts, consider consolidating them. Fewer accounts mean fewer passwords, fewer statements, and less time spent tracking balances. This is especially helpful for investment accounts—consolidating into one brokerage can give you a clearer picture of your portfolio.

4. Use Automated Money Management Tools
Apps like Mint, YNAB, or Personal Capital can track your spending, budgeting, and investments in one place. These tools make it easy to stay organized and see your financial health at a glance.

5. Automate Your Savings
Whether you’re saving for retirement, a vacation, or an emergency fund, automation is your best friend. Set up automatic transfers to savings or retirement accounts each month so you’re always working toward your goals without even thinking about it.

6. Update Legal Documents
The new year is a great time to review and update your will, power of attorney, and healthcare directives. If your circumstances have changed—such as a new grandchild or a recent move—make sure your documents reflect your current wishes.

7. Organize Your Filing System
Create a clear system for managing financial documents, whether digital or physical. Sort important files like tax records, insurance policies, and account statements into labeled folders so you can easily find what you need. Throw away outdated paperwork to reduce your physical and mental clutter.

Start the Year with Confidence
By simplifying your financial life, you can free up time and energy to focus on what matters most. Make 2024 the year of financial clarity and peace of mind! And of course, schedule a financial checkup with us to discuss financial planning for the future. We can help you evaluate your dreams and make a plan to turn them into reality.

About the Author: Mark Roberts

In addition to managing clients’ money and giving investment and diversification advice, Mark offers something that “the other guys” don’t - a unique approach to Retirement Tax Strategies and distribution. Time and time again, Mark meets with new clients who tell him they have a great relationship with their financial advisor but have never been offered information on this kind of approach to securing their financial futures. Mark has taken this feedback to heart and works tirelessly to ensure that his strategies focus on taxes and distribution. Mark started selling insurance for a major insurance company right out of high school to help put himself through college. After graduating with a degree in finance, he dove into estate planning on the financial side to set himself apart from other financial advisors. However, as changes were made to estate tax laws over time, Mark shifted his focus to income tax strategies. Mark’s philosophy is “the blue prints are more important than the wall paper or carpet.” The wall paper and carpet represent products like investments and insurance policies, whereas the blue prints represent the strategies. Once strategies that truly fit the client’s needs are put in place, our focus can shift to providing you with the right products. According to Mark, “It doesn’t matter what carpet we use if the walls are not in the right place.” Our approach to money management is designed to generate the largest alpha (quality) with the lowest standard deviation and beta (risk). By doing this, we help provide clients with the highest return on the lowest risk. Generating income for our retirees is also very important. Because withdrawing money from your portfolio hurts the account rather than helping it, our goal is to design income strategies to harm the portfolio the least making the money last longer.

Simplify Your Financial Life in the New Year

Simplify Your Financial Life in the New Year

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About the Author: Mark Roberts