Sound financial plans require regular maintenance. Whether once a week, once a month, or a few times a year, you should be checking in with your finances to make sure you’re on top of things and still on track to meet your financial goals.
Summer is a great time to do a mid-year check-in with your finances. With the first part of the year in your rearview, it’ll help inform whether you are on track to meet your financial goals and finish out the year on a high note. Check out our list below to see the items you should take some time to revisit and make any adjustments as necessary.
Budget Revisions
Just like any company spends time reforecasting and adjusting its yearly budget, so should you. Ideally, this should be done monthly, but if you’re not able to stick to that schedule, a mid-year review is necessary.
You’ll want to look at what your projections were for spending in various areas and how those estimates have matched up with your actual spending. Perhaps you underestimated your regular grocery costs and need to choose a more realistic budget number. Maybe you were anticipating your travel costs would be higher than they’ve turned out to be. That’s some savings you can channel into another expenditure area or sock away into your emergency fund. The insight gained from comparing your projections to actual figures will help to ensure your budget is realistic and that you’re meeting your overall goals for saving and spending.
Retirement Contributions
Check in with your 401(k), 403(b), or IRA. What percentage are you currently contributing? Are you maxing out on your company’s match? If not, adjust your contribution to do so, or you’re leaving free money on the table. Financial professionals often suggest increasing your contribution by 1% each year to further increase the amount you’ll ultimately have available for retirement.
Review your balances and revisit the investment path you’ve opted into. Maybe the market is more ideal than it was when you last checked in; maybe it’s not. Work with a financial professional to identify any tweaks you can make to your portfolio to combat things like inflation or market volatility.
Debt
Debt: no one likes it; no one wants to have it. However, it’s a reality for most of us. Things like student loan debt, mortgages, or car loans are often necessary kinds of debt, but debt like credit card balances can do serious damage to your budget and your credit score.
So, how do you manage it? Checking in with your debt, and often, is one way to start. The next step is to make and monitor a plan for paying off your debt. There are two main approaches to paying down debt: the snowball and avalanche methods. Check out our blog post to learn more about each method and which one might be the right approach for you!
At your mid-year financial check-in, examine your remaining debt and how your plan for paying it off is going. If it’s a little off track, make any adjustments necessary to keep paying it down.
Savings/Emergency Fund
A mid-year financial check-in also happens to be the perfect time to evaluate your savings and/or emergency fund. Are you achieving the savings goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year? Have you paid down some debt that would now allow you to funnel some extra funds into your savings? Maybe you’ve got a specific item or vacation you want to save for. Regardless of your goals or what’s going on in your life, taking stock of your savings is important.
Haven’t started saving for a rainy day yet? Don’t sweat it. Taking stock of your finances mid-year gives you the perfect opportunity to identify how you can save. Even if it’s just small amounts at first, they add up over time and give you the financial security of having some money socked away for emergencies, fun, and more!
Helping Members Achieve More
No matter what your financial goals are, we’re here to help you achieve them. If you want to pay down high-interest credit card debt, consider our flexible Visa® Balance Transfer option. Need to get your emergency fund started? We’ve got a savings account that’s perfect for that. We even offer a host of financial wellness resources to help you with everything from budgeting to planning for retirement.
