Personal Finance Advice

When is the last time that you took the time to find out if you are getting the best deal on car insurance? When was the last time you reviewed your savings accounts to make sure that you are getting the best interest rate possible? Do you know if you should refinance your car or home loan in order to save money in interest charges? Are you reaching your financial goals?

Do you have any idea of what is going on with your money?

An annual review is usually sufficient if you don’t have a lot of money in the stock market or massive amounts of debt.  This is the time when you should pull a copy of your credit report to make sure that there are no errors on the report and that everything is reflected correctly and accurately.  While you’re at it, do a few other things to make sure that you’re getting the most of your money.

Check to make sure you’re paying the least amount of interest and fees as possible.  Credit cards and loans are common among consumers, but that doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with high interest rates and enormous fees.  When you do your annual review you should take a look at what interest rates are for loans and credit cards.  If you’re paying much more then it’s time to think about refinancing, consolidating, or doing a balance transfer with your credit card accounts.  You may be surprised at all the money you can save.

Check to make sure you’re getting the highest return on your savings.  If you have a good amount of money in savings then it’s worth your time to compare current interest rates with other financial institutions to see if you can make significantly more interest income by moving your money around to a different institution or by changing what product you use for your savings.  For example, a certificate of deposit is going to earn more than a basic savings account in most cases.

Check to make sure you’re not paying more than you should. Does your checking account charge you fees left and right? Does your car insurance company make you pay much more in monthly premiums than other comparable companies would? Do you pay a lot of money for extra cable features that you don’t even use? An annual review should reveal places where you can save money.

Make sure you’re actually making some progress from the previous year.  The benefit of doing a financial review every year is that you can take a look at your progress from year to year.  It can be a great motivator to stay on track with your personal finances if every year you notice that you’re doing better with your money than the year before.

Set some time aside once a year to take a hard look at your personal financial situation.  Figure out ways that you can save money and get your finances into better shape and the next year you’ll probably notice substantial savings.