This week, I’m talking about index card personal finance. If I could sum up the best advice on personal finance onto a 3x5 index card, what would be on there? 

That’s what we’re covering this week. I would change a few of these have different pieces of advice for people in their 20s or 30s, but since most of you are in your 50s and 60s, this week’s tips focus on the best advice I can give you at your stage in life. 

Today’s rule is to pay off your credit cards every month. 

Being able to pay off your credit cards every month is a critical money rule for living within your means, restraining your spending, and keeping the long-term view in mind. It will also prevent you from paying astronomical credit card interest rates. 

And when you transition into retirement and are living off your investments and social security, paying high interest rates on credit card debt can seriously jeopardize your finances in retirement, so it’s critical to fix the problem before you retire. 

If you cannot pay off your credit cards every month and this is an ongoing problem rather than a one-time emergency situation, you likely have a spending problem. You’ll want to ask yourself some tough questions about why you maintain balances on your credit cards. Getting to the bottom of the issue without making excuses is critical, and you’ll likely need to track your spending closely over the course of 1-3 months to pinpoint the areas where you are overspending. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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