This April, take the time to start a fresh financial calendar by cleaning up your finances. You can achieve this by first clearing all the clogs, take account of your finances, check your debts and evaluate your investment portfolio. This is just similar to clearing the clutter in your kitchen or bedroom closet. Here are some simple tips to gear up for a better financial year.
Design the new financial calendar
As we know, the first step is to list your financial goals – both short term and long term goals. Next, you have to pick the right investment plans to fit these goals. Now design your new financial calendar that will prioritize your requirements according to your goals and timeline. Your calendar should also include the dates for tax filing, investment payment dates, policy premium dates, and any other EMI dates as well.
Take account of your finances
Take into account your income and expenses. Compare the data with your budget. Take into account all your utility and credit card bills. Make sure to set the room for checking your income/ expense report with your budget on a regular basis in your new financial calendar. Check if you are going overboard of your budget in any area and if there are any such cases; see how you can get them back on track.
Revisit your investments
We all know that in order to achieve better returns from your investments, you need to keep a regular watch on your investment portfolio. So, when you are starting your new financial calendar year, make sure to take the time to go through your current investments, your budget and requirements, and ways to compensate for the investments that are not doing well. There may be changes in your requirements this financial year compared to last year. So, you need to set your financial calendar such that you will have the arrangement to check your investment portfolio periodically.
Check all your outstanding loans
Loans/ debts are a very important element of your finances. By clearing your loans as quickly as possible, you can accomplish your financial goals easily. Too many outstanding loans and irregular repayment of loans can affect your credit score. Prioritize and clear the loans that have higher interest rates first. Any outstanding credit card bills will be your highest priority as they are the ones with exponential high-interest rates. Clearing home loans should be the last one as they help you to save taxes.
Look into your insurances
Last but not least, when starting a fresh financial calendar year; evaluate your existing life insurance and health insurance policies. Make sure that they are up to date and in accordance with your current standard of living. If you do not have adequate or no insurance cover so far, then now is a good time to purchase a top up or a new insurance cover respectively.
