Next Month Is Men’s Health Awareness Month! Here Is a Financial Health Checklist
If you’re taking advantage of Men’s Health Awareness Month next month in June, be sure to include a financial check-up (and booster) in your schedule. Your fiscal well-being is a key part of ensuring you have the resources to create the safety and security needed to flourish now and far into the future.
Need a checklist to get started? Let’s start with taking a look at where you are now, and some basic steps to improve your financial health.
#1 Diagnose Your Current Financial Condition
Before you can improve your health (physical or financial), you need to gather the data and assess your current state. For your financial condition, that means reviewing your:
- Credit score – Obtain your credit score and credit history details (which factor into your score).
- Debt – Create a spreadsheet of everything you owe on vehicles, mortgage, credit cards, school and personal loans, including the amount owed, monthly payments, and interest rates.
- Assets – Next, jot down current amounts in your credit union and bank accounts (savings, checking, certificates of deposit, money market funds) as well as IRAs, 401k plans, and any other investment or retirement accounts, along with their earned interest rates.
This can be considered your “financial physical.” The intention is to view your finances from a high-level before navigating specific strategies to improve your situation.
#2 Identify Ways to Pay Down Debt
While your annual physical may uncover things like high cholesterol or blood pressure, high-interest debt is the top concern for a financial checkup.
Credit cards and loans with high interest rates can result in total costs that significantly exceed what you originally borrowed, and making minimum monthly payments can keep that cost growing. Holding these debts can prevent you from building your savings, improving your credit score, and bolstering your financial health.
To work toward paying them off—and avoid taking on new high-interest debt—you may want to work with a nonprofit credit counselor to help:
- Create a debt repayment plan that takes interest rates into account[1]
- Set up a monthly budget
- Negotiate with lenders to waive fees or reduce amount owed
#3 Set Savings Goals
In youth, your financial goal and roadmap may have been as simple as “Be rich.” As an adult, however, you know that setting specific, manageable goals is part of working toward positive larger objectives—and this is true for financial health, too.
Here are some different funds you can set up to help you make incremental progress toward larger financial goals:
- Emergency savings fund to cover three to six months of living costs
- Retirement savings that incorporates your age, employer matching, and tax benefits
- Vacation savings to provide a defined budget by a planned date
- Education savings accounts for children
- Home funds such as saving for a downpayment or a remodeling project
#4 Maximize Your Benefits
Have you heard of the phrase “leaving money on the table?” It refers to when you have an option to receive money or discounts but don’t take advantage of it.
The most common type of money left on the table is employer matching. If you have a 401k or other savings plan at work, make sure you’re taking full advantage of any amount that your employer offers to match what you pay into it.
What other benefits are available to you that can save you money or help build wealth? Do some investigating to be sure you’re making the most of:
- Free services and benefits from credit unions or banks
- Membership discounts and benefits from professional associations, gyms, etc.
- Employee perks such as free or discounted tickets, events, or health clubs
- Credit card programs that provide points, cash back, or other perks
- Veterans’ benefits
#5 Remove or Reduce Financial Stress
Chronic stress is directly linked to the six leading causes of death—and for 62% of Americans, money is a significant source of it.[2],[3] While your medical providers can help you find ways to reduce the impact of stress, increasing your financial knowledge and security can remove money as a cause.
Understanding your financial situation and how to set and meet goals that decrease debt and build wealth are key. At the same time, be proud of the small steps you take toward these goals, and forgive yourself for past decisions or lost opportunities—start from where you’re at today to lower your financial stressors.
Ready to Improve Your Financial Health? NJFCU is Here to Help!
Now that you have your results in hand, it’s time to take steps toward your financial well-being. Partner with the best credit union in NJ, North Jersey Federal Credit Union, to keep your banking costs low and get access to tools you can use.
NJFCU is the credit union New Jersey residents count on to help them achieve long-term financial success. As a not-for-profit financial cooperative since 1936, we put our members’ interests first.
Ready to take the next step? Find out more today about membership benefits, including debt consolidation NJ residents can rely on.