For many people, the New Year brings the promise of change and a fresh outlook on life. New Year resolutions can help you define and achieve personal goals, family initiatives, career ambitions, home projects, dream travel plans, and much more.
Including wealth planning in your New Year resolutions helps to ensure that your money works in support of your life objectives. It also defines a clear pathway toward your personal and family objectives. SageVest Wealth Management offers the following resolutions to encourage a fulfilling financial future for all.
Create Your Personal Definition Of Money
A great way to start the year is to understand your relationship with money. What are your intrinsic values, beliefs and goals? How can money support these life aims?
How you connect with your wealth lays the foundation for what money represents in your life and what it can help you to achieve. Give money purpose, but don’t let it distract you from what matters most in your life. Always remember that money is only a means to an end.
Take Pride In Your Financial Security
One of the most commonly shared perspectives amongst our clients is the safety and security that wealth can provide for you and your family – not just today, but for years to follow. Recognize what you’ve achieved so far, and focus your ongoing saving efforts on the future you envision and desire for you and your loved ones.
View savings as a way of ‘paying yourself first’, and understand that saving (not just spending) can be gratifying. The best way to achieve savings is to automate the process and to save regularly. Be sure to review your retirement plan contributions and structures for achieving additional savings as you head into the New Year, and consider educational savings to fund academic success for your children, grandchildren or other youngsters.
Set Goals And Plan Ahead
It’s easy to fret over unknown future finances. Resolve to allay your fears and avoid further procrastination by actively planning ahead.
As the New Year begins, take time to sit down and define your life and financial goals, both short- and long-term, then implement the necessary financial steps that align with the path you want to follow. Make your life journey more enjoyable by setting a course towards financial success.
Forget About The Joneses
One of the best ways to achieve financial satisfaction in the New Year is to forget about ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. Peer pressure about what car you drive, the zip code you live in, what college your child is attending, and so on can pervade all aspects of life, causing significant emotional and financial stress for you and your family.
The reality is that most people who flaunt expensive possessions often have little to show in terms of financial assets or security. Recognize the value in what you have, focus on what you can achieve, and encourage your children to do the same.
Prioritize Splurges To Enhance Enjoyment
Everyone enjoys splurging now and then. However, if you overindulge, your enjoyment will be diluted and prove less meaningful – not to mention the financial impact of overspending.
Enhance your fulfillment by focusing on the most important and meaningful items on your enjoyment list for the New Year. Doing so bolsters their value and increases the satisfaction you’ll derive from enjoying them, while also keeping your personal budget in check.
Don’t Just Buy – Experience!
Today’s fast-paced environment includes hustle and bustle, a lot of transactions, and too little time to breathe, experience, and enjoy life’s moments. As you move into the New Year, promise yourself to take time out for yourself, your family, friends, and other loved ones.
Creating personal experiences can be far more meaningful than putting a bow on a purchased gift, and some of the lowest cost activities can produce the most treasured memories. Consider giving the gift of your time and presence to be with family and friends, by hosting a dinner, going on a hike, etc.
Give Back
Purpose and engagement are two ingredients of a fulfilling life. Becoming involved in community activities and charitable organizations can offer both.
The beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect upon your life values, and to enhance your wellbeing and the wellbeing of others by reaching out to organizations to offer gifts of your time, money, knowledge, and skills.
Say Goodbye To Debt
Saying goodbye to debt is liberating, and what better time to start tackling it than the New Year?
If you’re in debt, evaluate your outstanding loans to determine which to pay off first, then set achievable goals. This is particularly important if you have credit card debt, home equity balances or other variable interest rate loans, as interest rates are now moving higher, making variable rate debt and new debt more costly.
Engage In Open Financial Discussions
Too often, money can be a taboo subject, when the reality is that healthy financial discussions typically lead to happier lives.
Vow to share and learn in the New Year. Take the time to communicate openly, honestly, and respectfully, especially with family members or others who may play a role in your current or future financial life. In addition, inspire others to follow wise financial practices, including educating your children and grandchildren on financial literacy for their future success.
SageVest Wealth Management focuses on connecting families with their wealth in meaningful ways. Please contact us to learn how we can help you to preserve and grow your financial success, both in the New Year and beyond.
