This week, I’m talking about life changing money habits.These are the habits, the goals, and the behaviors that will have the biggest impact on your life. 

Today, I’m talking about eliminating debt. 

I took a public speaking class in college with a girl who confided in me that she was $25,000 in credit card debt. She knew I was a finance major and asked me what I thought she should do about her debt. She was just paying the minimum payments and she didn’t understand that she should be paying more than the minimum if she ever had any hope of paying that debt off. 

I asked her how she accumulated that debt. It was mostly from buying clothes and designer handbags. I told her to cut up her cards and stop shopping. Easier said than done. 

Regardless of how much debt we have and how we got there in the first place, accumulating debt in this country is still astonishingly easy. And digging out of the debt hole is often quite hard. That’s why one of the best life resolutions you can make is to maintain a commitment to minimal debt. 

As you approach retirement, ridding yourself of debt becomes even more important. Walking through your retirement years with the shackles of debt obligations - mortgage payments, car payments, credit card debts - will prevent you from being able to fully enjoy your retirement years. 

If you’ve been a listener of the One Minute Retirement Tip for any length of time, I am a big advocate of zero debt by retirement because of the freedom it provides. And especially if you have high interest credit card debt, you’ll want to start there and make a plan to pay off that debt as quickly as possible.

Regardless of how much debt you have and what those monthly debt payments are, one of the most life changing financial habits you can commit to in 2021 and beyond is to reduce or eliminate your debt all together. 

That’s it for today, but before you go...we have a special virtual event coming up tonight - Wednesday, January 27th at 7pm Pacific - The 2021 Economic Outlook, featuring renowned economist John Mitchell. Boring economic outlooks are a dime a dozen, but John is hands down one of the most charming and engaging economists you’ll hear. This is an invite only exclusive event for our clients with the opportunity for Q&A at the end to ask your burning questions. 

I have 25 tickets reserved for listeners of the One Minute Retirement Tip, so if you’d like to attend just send me an email - [email protected] - and if you’re one of the first 25 to email me, I’ll send you the link to register. That email again is [email protected]. 

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

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