Spring Clean Your Finances

Spring
clean your finances

Family
& Lifestyle

Streamline
planning for the future by getting organized.

Spring is
the perfect time to get your finances in order. Being on top of your finances
can help you feel more in control while reevaluating your bills and purchases
more often can help you stay within budget. Also, you’re more likely to think
ahead and plan for the future if you get and stay financially organized.

Start by
organizing your paperwork

Life events
like selling or buying a home, preparing for retirement or experiencing a
medical event can leave you with an accompanying mountain of documents. Most
people aren’t certain what papers are important to hold onto. In a pinch, they
either can’t find exactly what they need or realize they never saved it in the
first place.

Creating a
physical and digital filing system is often the simplest way to organize your
documents, making it easier to locate important papers when you need them. Sort
your documents by major category like investing, medical expenses, loan
documents, estate planning and home repairs by designating a folder for each.
You can then break down each category by year. Be careful to shred or delete
any documents you decide you no longer need.

Run your
credit report

Check your
credit report every three months for derogatory changes and look for any signs
of identity theft. You can check with the three credit bureaus – Transunion,
Experian and Equifax – individually or get a consolidated report from Credit
Karma or Credit Sesame.

If you find
derogatory changes like missed payments or foreclosures made in error, you can
dispute them with the credit bureaus. This is crucial, as derogatory marks will
remain on your credit report for seven years.

Take an
annual look at the big picture

Use spring
as an opportunity to review your spending habits as well as income changes, to
identify ways to optimize your finances for the rest of the year. Decide what
your highest priorities are and consider ways to boost your financial health. A
little creativity could help you get closer to your goals more quickly.

Some
practical tips include refinancing debt to lower your monthly payments, cutting
unnecessary costs and canceling subscriptions you no longer need. You can even
earn quick cash by selling those gently used designer shoes hiding in the back
of your closet.

Creating and
following a budget gives you the freedom to spend your money the way that best
supports your goals. One easy way to do this is by automating as many payments
as possible and being diligent with your discretionary spending.

As you take
control of your finances and prioritize your goals, don’t forget to consider
retirement. Most people want to work less in the future or retire altogether,
and as costs rise over time due to inflation, it’s important to make sure you
save enough to support the lifestyle you want to maintain. It’s always a good
idea to increase contributions to retirement accounts, but it becomes more
essential the closer you get to retirement age as there is less time to
accumulate interest or retirement gains.

While
organizing your finances takes some time and effort, the payoff in the long run
is well worth it. It gives you the freedom to save for the goals that matter
most to you and enables you to have funds in place when you need them for an
emergency or major purchase.

Pendle Hill Advisors is proud to
contribute to the Montgomery County News with our weekly curated financial news
and topics. If you have any questions about the markets, your financial plan,
or anything, please feel free to reach out to our office for a no cost initial
consultation.

Kent Pendleton, AAMS®

Financial Advisor, RJFS

Pendle Hill Advisors LLC

14375 Liberty St, Ste 109 | Montgomery,
TX 77356

T 936-297-8267

Kent.Pendleton@raymondjames.com | www.raymondjames.com/pendlehilladvisors

Material created by Raymond James for
use by its advisors. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial
Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services are offered
through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Pendle Hill Advisors is
not registered broker dealers and is independent of Raymond James Financial
Services.

Source:
New York Life