Financial Spring Cleaning: Seven Tips For Tidying Up Your Finances
/The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming. Spring is here and it is a beautiful time to clean out the old and make space for the new, elevated you. Here are seven tips for tidying up your finances this spring season.
Financial Spring Cleaning
The first step is getting money clarity. This requires reviewing your spending and your income from the last quarter. If you’ve been doing your weekly money dates, this will be easy breezy. As a freelancer, you can run your Income Statement (also known as Profit & Loss) report for this information. Use this information to decide if any adjustments to your spending need to be made or if you need to boost your earnings.
Consolidate the clutter. Recycle any paperwork you no longer need and file the paperwork that you need to hold onto. Review your retirement accounts and roll any accounts you have with former employers into an independent or company-affiliated account. Lastly, go through your clothing and books, and donate or sell the items you no longer use.
Talk with aging parents about estate planning. If you’re unfamiliar with estate planning, check out my 60-second video describing it. Talking with parents about money can be challenging. To help you out, I have a full checklist in the Money-Makers Circle that you can use to ease into the conversation with your parents. Click here to learn more about the Money-Makers.
Refresh your future plans. This is the perfect time to assess your investment accounts, review your asset allocation, retirement plans, and debt paydown progress. For more information on asset allocation, check out my 60-second video.
Reach out to your financial team. Quarterly check-ins with your tax accountant is a great way to be strategic about your tax planning. Depending on your situation, you may also have an outsourced CFO, a wealth manager, or a financial advisor. If you do not have work with a financial expert, use this time to research different professionals and begin drafting your wish list.
Tax planning. As stated in the previous step, now is a great time to review your tax planning strategy. This will reduce future headaches and unpleasant surprises.
Vision. Lastly, reflect not the vision you crafted at the beginning of this year. Do you need to make any adjustments? Does the vision reflect the life you wish to lead the remainder of the year?
About Money & Mimosas: Money & Mimosas was started as a passion project by Danetha. A former NFL cheerleader turned entrepreneur, she started blogging as a way to combine all of her passions into a career. Money & Mimosas is now enjoyed by readers in over fifty countries with the same dream of achieving financial freedom without living frugally.
