You & Your Money

7 Financial Moves to Make 2023 Less Stressful

February 01, 2023 Advisor Michael Baum CFP® RICP®. Season 2 Episode 4
You & Your Money
7 Financial Moves to Make 2023 Less Stressful
Show Notes Transcript

Make 2023 a better year for your finances as well as your stress level, with these seven steps recommended by Michael Baum, CFP®, RICP®

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Welcome to You and Your Money. Empowering you to reach your goals with tips to help you plan well, invest well, and live well. This month's market update comes from Michael Baum, vice president and associate financial advisor. at Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors. Now on to today's topic. Take it away Mike.(wooshing sound) Mike what financial advice do you have to help reduce stress as we plan and plot our new year? Yeah. Well You said it, you know, earlier our money can cause a lot of stress. Financial issues can keep us up at night. Everybody knows that whether you have a lot of money or a little money, it can be, it can weigh on your mind. So if you're looking to make 2023 a better year for your finances and So some of these tips may seem fairly simple and obvious at face into action in your own life and then stick to it. You know, actually do it and stick with it. So if you can do that, it will make a lot of difference. All right, so, what's the number one thing we should do? So, the first tip is kind of two tips in one here. So track your spending and then spend wisely. So by tracking your spending and looking at where your money goes each month, you'll get a great idea of where you might be over spending without even realizing it. So that will enable you to make some better decisions. and spend more wisely. If you spend wisely you'll likely have more money available for your current needs, and your long-term goals and that can help reduce your stress. All right, that makes sense, kind of obvious and easier said than done, don't you think? Yes, it can be, but it's all about keeping your goals top of mind and being conscious about your financial habits. So going forward, try this. Before you buy something ask yourself, is this a real need? Or is it a want? If it's a want, will it improve the quality of my life or will it only satisfy my impulse to spend in the moment? If it's an in-the-moment Impulse, be honest with yourself about that and see if you can skip it. You can start by applying that line of thinking to the those daily purchases that we often make, without even thinking about them. Things like stopping at the coffee shop, getting takeout for lunch everyday or making mindless online purchases. Those savings, if you can cut some of those things out, can really add up. Okay, so let's say you're doing all that and you're realizing some savings. What should you do with those savings? So that brings me to number three, which is first, I think people need to think about an emergency fund if they don't already have one. So that's going to really help with stress. Think about it, if you if you do have one add to it until it's at least enough to cover three months of expenses. If you take those funds that you saved on stopping your impulse purchases and put it into your emergency fund instead. You'll have a much bigger financial cushion and that will help put your mind at ease because you're ready if something happens. You're ready for the unexpected. Yeah, really great advice, classic advice. It never gets old. It never goes out of style and but you still have to hear it from time to time, so thanks for that. So what's next on your list after the after these couple of obvious things here? Yeah, the next big thing and this will be a big stress relief is to start reducing debt. So, eliminating debt, I mean, that that's going to make that's going to take up huge weight off your shoulders and that's especially true now that interest rates are the highest they've been in decades. In most cases you should be paying off the debts that have the highest interest rate first, and then work your way down to the lower interest debt. It'll take some time, but once you pay off that first debt and then apply that payment to the next debt and then the next debt, you'll really start to see that being paid off faster and faster and before you know it, you'll be debt-free. So to make this even easier to plan out, you can use the snowball debt elimination calculator in the resources section of our website whzwealth.com. The snowball debt elimination calculator, I just love the name of that thing. Yeah. And and again, a great plan. It's very helpful to have a plan for getting out from under debt and good to know that your online calculator on your website is there. So thanks for sharing that. So, let's say you're spending smartly, you've got a healthy emergency fund, you've paid off your debts. If you're lucky enough to already be in that position, are there any additional things you can do to reduce stress? Yeah. Now this is a point where you get to start planning for the future. Yeah. And heading off stress before it arrives. Which is really an exciting place to be. So first off, you'll want to create a spending plan for the immediate future to ensure you continue spending wisely. Keep all your expenses covered, avoid debt and maintain your emergency savings. But once those are satisfied, spending wisely is also about planning your finances so that you can live well in the present while also building towards your longer term goals. Alright, so um how about if you want to I don't know take a trip or something? I mean we're in the I call it the dark the dark months and oh yes you just start thinking I gotta do someting, I gotta get out of here. What do you think? You'll want to take a little break? You talk about living well... Yeah, well you hit on an important point. So research research shows that people enjoy experiences more than possessions. So whether it's a you know, vacation somewhere warm in the dreary months of winter or something as simple as, you know, taking an art or cooking class or going to dinner with your friends. Spending on an experience, will likely bring you more enjoyment and help reduce your stress more than buying some stuff. So with regard to longer-term goals, that's where financial planning is crucial. Strategizing for the long-term can get complicated and overwhelming So it's a good idea to work with a financial planner who will partner with you to create that strategic financial plan that's customized to your goals and your unique situation and having that plan in partnership in place is really the ultimate and financial stress load relief. And that's what you guys love to do, right, at Weiss, Hale and Zahansky? You know it. Yeah, that's that's what we're laser focused on helping our clients to do and to help them live well. Whatever that might mean for them. So serving as their partner in their Journey, every step of the way through the strategic plan well, invest well, live well process. It's really amazing to watch our clients, hit their goals throughout that process and it's why we do what we do. Yeah. Good. Good chat. Good topic here today to particularly, as we start our new year, and of course, we want it to be a great year. If you'd like to learn more about Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors and how their plan well, invest well, live well process can help you visit their website, As Michael said, whzwealth.com, you can call them at 860-928-2341.(whooshing sound) That brings us to the end of this episode. As always, thanks for listening to You and Your Money If you enjoy our show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your other favorite podcast platform. And find even more episodes, videos and other resources at our website. whzwealth.com Be sure to come back next week for more tips to help you live fearlessly and pursue your financial and life goals. Until then, live well. Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors offer securities and advisory services through Commonwealth Financial Network, member FINRA/SIPC, a registered investment advisor. Fixed Insurance products and services offered through CES Insurance Agency. They practice at 697 Pomfret Street, Pomfret Center, Connecticut, 06259 and can be reached at 860-928-2341 Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors do not provide legal or tax advice. The tenured Financial Services team strive to support clients in achieving their financial life goals. For more information regarding wealth management, and customized financial planning with Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors please visit www.whzwealth.com.