5 Quick Tips to Clean Up
Your Financial Life

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.

Read “You’re Probably Going to Live Longer than You Think. Here’s why that Matters.” to learn more about longevity.

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.

Learn how you can “Simplify your retirement with an IRA Rollover.”

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.

Get “Tips for managing and reducing your debt.”

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.

Get started on your budget. You can also use our budgeting worksheet.

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 Advice session today.