Ways To Have Healthy Finances During The New Normality
Now that several states in our country are slowly opening their businesses, revamping the economy, while others are staying put with the government’s regulations, you might have some free time in your hands. See this as an opportunity to get ahead with your personal numbers, whether if it is to beat the market, protect yourself from scammers, or try new things. I’ve assembled a couple of tips that can benefit your finances.
Review And Organize Your Passwords
Take a deep, slow look at all of your accounts and assemble the passwords and points of contact. If you have a partner, perform this task together so there’s a joint understanding of where is every thing that you might need. I’m talking about personal documentation, financial records, wills, powers of attorney, bank accounts, etc. And don’t forget to throw in the mix stuff like warranties for your electro domestics, car titles, your handyman’s number, and many more.
It’s Time To Do Your Taxes
With everything that’s been going on lately, filing your taxes seems to be down in the pecking order. The good thing is that with the extended deadline, you can take a deep breath to find the best solution to take care of the inevitable. On a positive note, interests and penalties won’t apply if you do it before the extended deadline.
Check with your state’s tax agency to see if the newly imposed deadlines, for filing or paying, have changed because of the Covid-19 crisis. Still, if you are getting a refund, you should file your taxes right away. The quarantine time is a great opportunity to review your records for tax deductions and use a software that could take care for your specific case.
Build An Investing Plan
You do not have to be a seasoned investor to set goals and create a blueprint to meet them. With the time that this quarantine has given you, give it a thought to write down your goals for your portfolio. It does not matter whether they are short-term or long-term, as long as you are active about it. A short-term goal might be buying a new car. Long-term goals could be retiring in a comfortable manner, sending your kids to college, or leaving a legacy.
Portfolios can have very tricky outcomes following a sudden move into a bull or bear market, as we’ve seen during this pandemic. For that case, regular maintenance moving your assets (also known as rebalancing), can minimize the risk to get to your desired goals.
Freeze Your Credit
By performing this activity, you prevent new creditors from reviewing your credit report, adding an extra wall of security for identity thieves to take advantage of you. For it to work properly, you will need to contact each credit bureau to initiate this process. This can be done free of charge.
Once done, via phone or online, it will be reflected in a matter of days. To reinstate your status, the time that takes to be done is less than on hour. The freeze remains in effect until you state it otherwise.
Open A Social Security Account
One of the smartest things you can do to be a step ahead of your retirement is to set up an online account with Social Security. Once done, it will be harder for identity thieves to create accounts on your behalf and use it to apply for benefits. Also, you can check your earnings history and make sure there are no gaps in your earning records.
To set up an account, go to the Social Security website. Make sure to have your personal details in hand to confirm the multiple questions they will ask you. If you are thinking of freezing your credit reports, take care of this step before.
Protect Your Passwords
Security experts have warned us over and over along all of these years to change the passwords of our online accounts on a regular basis. Make sure that you are following the recommendations by adding letters, numbers, and characters to try to make it as complex as possible. The regular ones as “1234”, “password”, or “qwerty” won’t be useful here and I highly encourage you to change them.
A good way to manage countless accounts and passwords is to get a password manager that can organize every single one that you have. A password manager can help you create unique and difficult passwords for each account, without going through the hassle of remembering any of them.
Copley Financial Group, Inc’s financial advisors are here to be with you in every step of the way of your financial journey. If you want to start a conversation, please contact me or your financial advisor. Here at Copley Financial Group, Inc. with offices in San Diego, CA. and Uniondale, NY. the team and myself will do our best to see your achieve every goal you have.
