Five Financial Moves... to Make RIGHT NOW

There is never a better time to do anything, than RIGHT NOW...this goes for anything you have on your TO DO LIST. One area that you should really look at RIGHT NOW is your finances. Why wait to check in on your finances? All you are doing is delaying, and possibly worsening, the enviable.

Here is a short list that will give you a full look at your financial situation:

Review Your Credit Reports

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to review your credit report every 12 months at each of the three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian). Take advantage of it. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com and request your credit report so that you can review it for errors and omissions. Making sure your credit report is correct has a huge impact on your credit score, which is what lenders and other businesses use to decide whether or not, and at what cost, to do business with you. If you do find an error, report it to each of the bureaus as soon as possible since resolving it can take some time.

Start an Emergency Fund

If you don’t have a rainy day emergency fund, start one today. An emergency fund acts as a buffer in the event you experience a financial emergency, from an unexpected medical bill to a car repair to losing your job. Experts recommend that you keep a minimum of six months of expenses in a savings account, preferably an online savings account offering higher interest rates, for this purpose. If you are feeling conservative, you can always put a year’s worth of expenses in your emergency fund. Once you have the fund set up, you might consider laddering CDs to boost the interest rates even more. Remember, the purpose of this fund is to protect you in case something happens, it’s not designed to generate a lot of income.

Restructure Your Debts

If you’re currently battling debt, look to restructure it to either consolidate that debt or lower the interest rate. If it’s a double digit credit card debt you’re struggling with, consider doing a credit card balance transfer to give you a year or more to catch up on the balance. Compare the post-promotional APR to your current APR, along with your ability to pay, to see if this is a good deal. If not, consider joining a credit union and turning the high interest credit card debt into a lower interest personal loan. If that still isn’t an option, research peer to peer lending as it might be a way for you to trim the interest rate without much hassle.

Shop Around Everything

As I said in the beginning of this article, shop around every service you pay for, not just car insurance. Whenever my cable and internet contract expires, I always go back to the provider with competitive offers and request a reduction in my rates. It’s so much cheaper for them to charge me less than it is to find a new customer, especially after you consider what goes into getting a new customer.

Clean Your Financial House

Spend a few minutes each week just cleaning house, whether it’s closing dormant accounts to shredding documents you no longer need, keeping a tidy financial life is crucial to reducing mistakes. The last thing you want to have to deal with is a CP2000 letter from the IRS because you omitted a 1099-INT from a bank you forgot you had an account in.