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We’re less than six months away from 2024 — but it’s not too late to make progress in your financial journey. Here are some money moves you can make now.
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Believe it or not, we’re more than halfway through 2023. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to make progress in reaching your personal finance goals. There are many months left to improve your finances. If you want to set yourself up for success by the time the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, there are some steps that you may want to take throughout the remaining months of 2023. In this article, I’ll share some things you can do with your money before 2024.
1. Perform a financial wellness checkup
It can be challenging to know what’s working for you or what you may need to do differently if you don’t review your finances every so often. But by reviewing your recent bank and credit card statements for the year so far, you can figure out what changes you may want to make before 2024 begins. If you’ve been overspending, you may want to start using budgeting apps to monitor your spending and stay on track to avoid falling into debt.
2. Increase your retirement contributions
Even if you’re in your 20s or 30s, now is the time to plan for retirement. If you’re already investing money via a retirement account, that’s excellent. However, it doesn’t hurt to increase your contributions. If possible, it can be beneficial to max out your contributions for the year. But even if you can’t do that, increasing your contributions even by a little bit is a wise move.
If you have a retirement account that can be used to reduce your taxable income, like a traditional IRA account, boosting your contributions can help you save on your yearly tax bill, too.
Compound interest allows you to earn interest on the initial balance and any interest earned, so investing more money during your earlier working years can be advantageous.
3. Prioritize eliminating high-interest debt
If you have high-interest debt like credit card debt, paying it off as soon as possible is best. Otherwise, it will continue to accumulate quickly. If you can afford to put more money towards your debt, you can eliminate it sooner and save money by paying less interest in the long run.
You can use our credit card interest calculator to determine how much extra you should put toward your debt to reach your debt payoff goal before year’s end. If you have a significant amount of credit card debt and it feels overwhelming, you may want to open a balance transfer credit card to save on interest charges as you work hard to tackle your debt.
4. Stash your extra cash in a savings account
There’s little advantage to keeping your extra cash in your checking account. Now is an excellent time to move your savings to a high-yield savings account because you can take advantage of the competitive interest rates on offer right now. Getting paid to keep your cash in an interest-earning bank account can allow you to reach your savings goals sooner. I’ve kept my savings in Ally Online Savings and have earned more than $500 this year so far.
5. Review your savings goals and boost your contributions
Many of us are working hard to reach savings goals before 2023 ends. You may want to review the savings goals you set for yourself at the start of the year to check in on your progress. If you can afford it, increasing your savings contributions can be helpful. Even a slight increase — like saving an extra $50 per month — can make a big difference. Building a solid emergency fund and saving for upcoming purchases can financially prepare you for the future.
Don’t give up on your financial goals
We may be less than six months away from the final day of 2023, but you still have plenty of time to continue to make progress in improving your finances. You’re not alone if you’ve reached some roadblocks in your personal finance journey. But remember that it’s never too late to make positive changes to set yourself up for a successful 2024. I’ll be rooting for you!
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