Four Financial Things Worth a Few Minutes of Your Time
Updated: 17 hours ago
If you live around here, you probably don’t need another person telling you to save more or be better with your money.
You’re busy. You have a demanding career, kids with packed schedules, a mortgage, travel, activities, and a calendar that somehow gets fuller every year! For many families, the problem isn’t a lack of resources. It’s finding the time to step back and take care of the basics.
The good news is that you don’t need to spend hours managing your finances. A few simple things can make a meaningful difference.
1. Spend twenty minutes on the paperwork nobody wants to do.
Check the beneficiaries on your 401(k), IRA and life insurance. People update their wills and forget these forms. And the forms win.
If you have young children and don’t have a will, make one. The most important decision probably isn’t about money. It’s deciding who you want raising your kids if you’re not here.
2. Talk about money in front of your kids.
Our kids see what we drive, where we vacation, what we buy and how we spend our time. They’re learning from all of it.
You don’t need a formal lesson. Just let them hear how you think about money.
“We’re not buying that today. It’s not in the plan.”
“We saved for this trip.”
“That’s expensive. Let’s think about whether it’s worth it.”
Those little comments, repeated over time, can teach more than a lecture ever will.
3. Find out what you actually spend.
Not what you think you spend. What you actually spend.
Pull the last three months of checking and credit card statements and add it up. You may be surprised.
You don’t need to track every dollar forever. Just know the number. Once you do, a lot of other financial decisions get easier.
4. Save automatically, and increase it when you get a raise.
There is always somewhere else the money can go. The easiest solution is to make saving automatic.
Set the transfer for the day after payday so you never really see the money. And when you get a raise, put half of the increase toward savings or investing before your lifestyle has a chance to grow into it.
You’ll still have more money to spend, but you’ll also be making progress without having to think about it.
None of this is complicated and none of it requires you to become a finance person.
You have enough to manage already. The goal is to get a few important things set up correctly, so you don’t have to think about them every day.
Joshua Goulding, CFA, CFP®, is a McLean parent and the founder of 4J Wealth Management. This is general education, not personalized advice.
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