This week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast, it’s time for a financial checkup. I’m helping you take stock of your assets, debt, expenses, and your estate, to help you catch the cancer in your finances before it spreads. 

Today, I’m talking about debt. Oh, debt. You know most people think that debt is the problem. It’s not the root of the problem though. The root of the problem when you have too much debt is that you spend too much and save too little. 

That may be an unpopular thing to say, but it’s true. I know people making $50,000 a year with zero debt who live well within their means, and other people making $500,000 a year with debt up to their eyeballs. 

When you’re doing your annual financial physical, taking stock of your debt is critical to knowing where you’re at today and how you’re going to get debt-free. 

Start by listing all of your debts: 

• Name of the debt (i.e. credit card, car loan, mortgage, etc)
• Amount owed
• Interest rate
• Months or years left on the debt

Once you’ve taken inventory of your debt, you can make a plan of which debts to tackle first, set a target payoff date, etc. Did you debt increase or decrease over the last year? If it increased, why did that happen? You want to objectively assess your debt situation, especially if your debt grew, to determined why you’re in the position you’re in today. 

But first, just take inventory and go from there. 

That’s it for today, but before you go, I just wanted to remind you one last time this week that I’m hosting a virtual education event on Tuesday May 25th at 6:30pm (PST) - This event, Investing in Uncertain Times, features Chad Morganlander, senior portfolio manager and co-founder of Washington Crossing Advisors. Chad is a regular on various media outlets, including CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News, & The Wall Street Journal. 

Investing in uncertain times is certainly a timely topic right now! You’ll hear his perspective on investing and what he’s learned over the years managing nearly $9 billion in assets. 

You can register for the event by going to truenorthra.com/tickets. 

Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance