This week’s theme on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast is: Financial Resolutions For 2023

Today, I’m offering some suggestions on what I think are some worthwhile financial resolutions or goals for 2023. We’re a month into the new year already, but it’s never too late to implement goals that are worthwhile and will help you be 

1. Read x number of financial books to improve your knowledge and skillset with money. One of the most common complaints I hear from clients and people I talk to is that they know very little about money, how to manage it, and the people who do get good at this credit experience rather than knowledge to becoming better with their money as time goes on. But there are a wealth of great financial books - all the way from beginner to advanced - allowing you to start where you are. The nice thing about this goal is that it’s not hard, especially if you just start by reading one book about money in 2023. Most people haven’t ever read a single book about money in their entire lives, so starting with just 1 book in 2023 is a great start. 

• Increase your savings to 3-6 months living expenses. 

• Pay off credit card debt - for most people who have credit card debt, this is the single best financial resolution they could pick. Putting a plan in place and creating a timeline for when the debt will be paid off is key for success in this goal. Some people may have debt that will take 2 months to pay off, others maybe 2 years or more, but creating a debt repayment plan and ensuring you don’t add more to the debt will help you stay on track with this goal

1. Pay off your house in x months/years. Use an amortization schedule to make a realistic plan and timeline to pay off your house. If you can be completely debt-free, including your house by retirement, then it’s one of the best goals you can shoot for in planning for a secure and comfortable retirement
2. Take the trip you’ve been putting off. Because I have small children, I can’t imagine travelling without them, yet, travelling with them is some kind of torture. We decided to go to Arizona as a family last November, and I think the moment I regretted the trip was just as we walked through the front door of our AirBnb. This was after a 2+ hour plane flight, needing 2 airport carts for all of our carseats and luggage, and then catching a shuttle bus to the rental car place, and waiting in line for our rental car for over an hour while 7 months pregnant with 3 other kids in tow.  I promised my husband we wouldn’t do that again until the youngest was at least 5 yo. Now you probably don’t have 4 small children keeping you from taking that trip to Italy you’ve been dreaming about, but many of you have still been putting off travel since Covid, so it’s a great time to incorporate some travel into your financial goals for 2023. And the nice thing about making travel a concrete goal is that you can plan ahead, budget, and save for your trip, so it won’t cause you to rack up credit card debt or dip into your savings to pay for the trip after the fact. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! Tomorrow I’ll continue with a few more financial goal ideas for 2023. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the Retirement Quick Tips podcast. 

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