(BPT) – Are you feeling good about your finances? Or do phrases like ‘account balance,’ ‘credit score’ and ‘retirement savings’ give you a twinge of anxiety?
Don’t worry, you’re in good company. Only 24 percent of the millennial generation have basic financial literacy, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education. When it comes to getting their financial house in order, most millennials would prefer not to set foot in that proverbial house in the first place. Getting yourself out of debt and building enough savings to cover your expenses in an emergency is a marathon, not a sprint. Establishing small, incremental changes in your financial habits today can make a big difference in your financial health months or even years from now.
Here are a few steps you can take today to spruce up your money management process and get yourself on the path to financial health. Stay on track with your plan, and a year from now, you should be better off.
* Check your credit score. Before you start the work of realigning your finances, you should start by checking your credit score and reviewing your credit report. It helps to know where you stand financially, and the good news is, even if your credit score is not as high as you’d like it to be, you can take steps to improve it. Establishing a history of on-time payments and maintaining a healthy credit utilization ratio are two things that could improve your credit score in a short time. One way to access your credit score without any cost is to find out if your bank or lender offers your VantageScore for free through their website.
* Make a plan to knock down your debt. Track down all your accounts – checking, savings, investment, credit cards and other loans – and do the math to find out your net worth. That’s your benchmark to help you track your process, but in the beginning, the truth can hurt. However, knowing how much you have in savings and knowing how much you owe gives you a valuable blueprint on where you need to direct your energy. From there, put together a household budget, and figure out where you can trim expenses, so you can pay ahead on your debts, one account at a time.
* Automate your savings. You’re much more likely to accumulate savings when you make the decision once and let the rest happen automatically. Log onto your bank account and set up an automatic transfer from checking to savings, starting with a small amount, preferably timed with your regular pay day. If you can manage to set aside $85 a month, in a year’s time, you’ll have set aside a full $1,000. That’s a decent emergency fund for things like car repairs and doctor bills.
* Open a retirement account. Here’s another way to automate savings. If you haven’t done so already, start contributing to a retirement plan. Even better, if your employer makes both a plan and a match available to employees, sign up as soon as you can. If you can’t afford to contribute the full amount to get the full match, start with a small percentage, and slowly add on.
Taking the first steps to gain control of your finances isn’t easy. Using this time to set up good financial habits today can get you in a better place tomorrow. Test your credit score knowledge at CreditScoreQuiz.org, and be sure to visit VantageScore Solutions to learn what things influence your score, and what you can do to improve it.
