Start The Year Off With Our Financial Health Checklist

We can all admit that 2020 has been nothing but crazy, stressful, and unpredictable, especially for our finances. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pick ourselves back up and hope for a better year to come.

Gather everything you have experienced so far and use it as a learning opportunity and as a stepping stone. Don’t be discouraged. 2021 is another year where we can prepare to push and launch ourselves towards all of our financial goals, despite whatever unexpected stumbles and setbacks perhaps some of us had encountered.

We’re also here to guide you with this checklist that we have prepared to help you gauge and check your Financial Health Status, something to kick off the new year!

Income

Everything starts with keeping track of how much money you are making. Once you have a clear understanding of how much you earn, you will then realize where you spend most of it and how you can allocate that amount to your needs and wants, whatever priorities that weigh more important to you. Hold yourself accountable and start tracking your spending and saving.

Assets

Create an inventory of all your assets and find out if there are any other opportunities there that you can grow, nurture, and take care of. See which ones can become income-generating, or see which ones are no longer relevant to your journey towards your goals, perhaps you can even sell them and gain more through that process.

Debt

List down everything that you owe: including your mortgage, student loans, credit cards, and any other loans. Then write down how much each of them costs, how they accumulate, and then proceed to create a game plan on how you can, slowly but surely, pay them off. Paying off your debt is a sure fired way to start your year in the right direction.

Short-term Cashflow Opportunities

Short-term Cash flow is the amount of money coming in and being spent on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. It’s the day-to-day finances that keep your finances running. Keeping track of this will allow you to spot opportunities where you can earn more and spend less. By trimming this fat, you’ll have more control over your assets. You’ll have more insight into future planning. Once you master tracking your cash flow, you’re empowered to create a strategy to ultimately strengthen yourself and your business.

Long-term Investments

Long-term investments are investments, including stocks, bonds, real estate, and cash that you tend to hold on to longer than a year. Check your portfolio and keep them up to date. See if they are still providing the value that you are expecting of them.

Insurance

Invest in insurance because you will never know what tomorrow might bring. Always have an emergency plan handy just in case of, well, emergencies. Check out necessary insurance plans for you, your family, and your assets. Look into health insurance, life insurance, homeowners insurance, and auto insurance. And make sure to evaluate your insurance policies and other contracts regularly to make sure you’re properly insured and are not paying too much.