Transcript

Hey, everyone, happy New Year, and I hope this video finds you well as always.

I wanted to kick off the first video in 2022 with a few steps that you can take to ensure financial success this year. And I want you to start, the first thing is to pull your credit report. We hear that a lot, and we might check our credit score quite a bit, but very rarely do we actually look at the report.

I want you to pull one. Generally speaking, they’re free. And I want you to make sure that all the information is correct. Your addresses, the things that you’ve purchased, the credit card accounts that you have, maybe the payment accounts that you have, make sure it’s all correct. And if it isn’t, rectify it early.

Second thing I want you to do is to create a savings budget. Sit down and think about all of the things that you spend on and make sure that you’re saving a little bit for yourself, a little bit of a safety net or a nest egg, so to speak, choose a dollar amount.

Whether that’s $5 a week, $25 every two, $1,000 a month. It doesn’t matter the amount. What matters is building a habit of saving and watching that amount grow becomes more fun than spending. So, I want you to create a budget.

And the easiest way to get into the habit of starting to save is to create an automatic draft from your checking account to some savings vehicle. Again, it doesn’t matter the amount. What matters is you get in the habit of starting to save, so start saving now.

Then, I want you to make sure that you’re withholding. If you’re a W-2 employee, make sure you’re not overpaying or underpaying the government, you don’t want that surprise around April. So double check your withholding.

I also want to make sure at this time of year that you’ve taken advantage of all your tax benefits. So MSA, FSA accounts, some of them are use them or lose them. So, make sure you get those receipts in and take advantage of the tax benefits. Your qualified plans, make sure that you have the right amount that’s being taken out of your check and that you’ve maximized at least the match if you’re offered a 401k and that you’re taking advantage of all that you can from a tax perspective.

There’s a whole bunch of other things you can do, but let’s start there and ensure your success.

Good luck in 2022.