Congratulations! You’ve reached the 12th and final step of the 12 steps to financial wellness. Here, we’ll review the previous actions and adjust this part of your financial health plan as necessary.
Step 1: Track your spending
Are you regularly tracking your spending? Knowing where your money is going will help you make more responsible spending decisions in the future.
Step 2: Create and stick to a budget
Budgets must be reviewed and tweaked every few months to ensure they work for present life circumstances. If your budget no longer works for you, tweak it until it does.
Step 3: Pay down debt
Have you made as much progress in your debt-paying journey as you’d hoped to by this point? Can you beef up any payments to make debt disappear sooner?
Step 4: Talk about money with your partner
Have you had the big money talk with your partner? Need to revisit any of the topics you’ve discussed, such as sharing accounts, dividing expenses and saving up for a shared dream?
Step 5: Spend mindfully
Review some of your recent purchases. Are you blowing money on stuff you don’t need instead of relieving stress more healthily? If so, look for better ways to de-stress.
Step 6: Pay it forward
Do you remember to pay it forward? The money, time and smiles we share are the only moments that are indeed ours.
Step 7: Pay yourself first
Do you remember to feed your savings? Increase the amount you’re regularly putting into savings by trimming some discretionary expenses.
Step 8: Know when and how to indulge
Do you remember to work your just-for-fun expenses into your budget so you can indulge without guilt? Now is an excellent time to look back at your indulgences to determine if they were good uses for your money.
Step 9: Check your credit score
Suppose you’ve been following the rules for boosting and maintaining a high credit score, like paying your bills on time, having several active cards and keeping your credit utilization low. In that case, your score should have improved during these last few months.
Step 10: Think about retirement
Review your retirement accounts and assess whether your funds have reached the place you’d hoped they would by now.
Step 11: Start investing
Make sure your investments perform well, and your assets are optimally diversified.
Step 12: Review your overall financial health
In this final step, you’ll review your financial health regularly, just as you’ve done here.
Reviewing your financial health regularly is an essential part of staying financially fit.
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OTHER ARTICLES IN THE FINANCIAL WELLNESS SERIES:
- Step 1: How to Track Your Spending
- Step 2: Creating a Budget
- Step 3: Paying Down Debt
- Step 4: Have the Money Talk with Your Partner
- Step 5: Practice Mindful Spending
- Step 6: Pay It Forward
- Step 7: How to Pay Yourself First
- Step 8: Know When & How to Indulge
- Step 9: Build & Maintain Excellent Credit Score
- Step 10: Plan for Retirement
- Step 11: Start Investing
