Eight Commandments of Building a Strong Financial Foundation

commandments financial foundation 1. Compare your monthly income versus your monthly expenses.  Establishing a spending plan can help you get a hold of your financial situation.  Live within your means and do not spend more than you make! 2. Pay off credit card balances each month.  If you have current credit card debt, attack it each month by paying more than the minimum payment and go for the smallest balance first.  When the first card is paid, add that amount to the payments on the second card.  Repeat for the next card, and keep going until you've paid them all. 3. Create a "safe and sound" fund.  Build a cash reserve of 6 months (or more) of your living expenses.  It may be a … [Read more...]

Three-Step Retirement Plan Tune-Up

Even if your personal outlook hasn't changed, keep in mind that uneven returns provided by different investments may have caused your portfolio to shift from your intended asset allocation. Conducting an annual review of your retirement goals and strategy is a great way to help ensure that your plans for your financial future remain realistic and on track. With that in mind,  taking the three easy steps outlined below will help you conduct your retirement tune-up.   Step 1: Review your retirement goals Your first step should be to review your retirement savings goals and assess whether anything significant has occurred during the past year that might affect either your … [Read more...]