5 Quick Tips to Clean Up
Your Financial Life
It’s spring-cleaning season! In addition to seizing the opportunity to clean up and simplify your life, you can also take the same approach to your financial life. These five quick “financial spring cleaning” tips can help.
1 - See how your longevity will impact what you need to save
April is Financial Literacy Month, making it a great time to set aside some time to learn more about your personal finances and retirement planning. One area that is particularly misunderstood is understanding the effect longevity (how long you will live) will have on finances in retirement. According to TIAA Institute Research, 2/3 of Americans don’t know how long the average 65-year-old will live.
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2 - Check in on your old accounts
Did you know that as many as 20% of Americans1 have inactive retirements from previous employers that they are no longer contributing to? While there’s typically no risk of losing the money in these inactive accounts, you may want to “roll over” these funds to your new workplace retirement plan (if your current plan allows) or into a personal IRA account. This can get your money “under one roof” and reduce the risk of accounts being forgotten or misplaced.
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3 - Focus on debt reduction
According to Fortune® Magazine, the average credit card debt per cardholder in America is $5,733.2 While building and maintaining solid credit can be a useful part of building your personal finances, having too much high-interest credit card debt can take a bite out of your monthly salary and long-term finance and retirement plans.
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4 - Create (or refine) your budget
It can be hard to set and stick to a budget. Learning about the importance of fixed & flex budgeting, what the 50-30-20 rule means and how and why you should track expenses can help you use your money smartly and set you on a solid financial footing to have more in your account at the end of each month.
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5 - Get help when you need it
Whether you are cleaning your house or cleaning up your finances – sometimes it’s best to get help.
Scheduling a one-on-one session with a TIAA financial consultant can help save you time with retirement planning and saving.
You can pick between meeting:
- In person
- Over the phone
- Online in a chat session
During this time, we will:
- Work together to review your account and goals for retirement
- Discuss potential changes that you can make to help you meet these goals
It takes an hour or less and all you’ll need in advance of the meeting is making sure you can log into your online account.
Schedule an
We’re here to help
Factor your finances into this year’s spring cleaning.
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