Jumping into financial 2024.

Building Personal Wealth & Stability In 2024

How were your finances in 2023? Were you able to save money or even breath easily? If not, you need to take some steps to build wealth and stability in the coming year. To that end, we have written this article to get you on the way.

In 2023 did finances take a back seat to running the rest of your life? If so, you need to make 2024 different by finally taking charge of your personal finances. This means, among other things, getting spending under control, boosting your income and finally starting that emergency savings account, the one you have been putting off for years. Ready to make this year the best one yet? Let’s get started.

Why The Focus On Finances?

So, why all of this focus on financials in 2024, it is just money after all and you can’t buy happiness, right? Well, yes and no. While you can not buy happiness, money takes one thing out of your living equation, stress. How many times over the last year have you stressed about money? Did stressing out over money make you happy? Of course not, so while money can not buy happiness, it sure can prevent a lot of stress.

So, just how healthy are your finances. Take a few minutes and do an assessment and see where you stand. Calculate your income, your expenses and then take stock of your assets. To have healthy finances, you must be earning more than you spend and you must be putting extra money into an investment/savings account. At a minimum, you should have six months of living expenses in an emergency savings account. If you are just breaking even every month, you are not healthy. If you do not have investments or a savings account, you are not healthy. Lets fix that in 2024.

Getting Financially Healthy

Getting financially healthy can mean balancing your budget, earning more money or simply starting an emergency savings account. For best results do all three of these things. Let’s get started.

Balance Your Budget

First on the list should be balancing your budget. You can not move ahead and make financial gains unless you know that you are taking in enough to cover your monthly expenses. This means comparing your budget to your income and then making small to large changes to create a balance. Of course, if you do not have a budget, your first step is making one.

Making your budget does not have to be overly complicated. All you need to do is simply list out all of your expenses, making sure to include budgets for things like groceries, entertainment and savings. Put these expenses into a spreadsheet form and set up a simple auto sum function so that you can see changes instantly as you make adjustments. Google Sheets has a good and free spreadsheet app that you can use if you lack one on your computer.

Once you have your budget, compare it to your monthly income and make sure that it balances. If you are not taking in enough money or things are tight, make cuts as needed. If you have extra income, divert it into your savings or investment account instead of wasting it.

Earn More Money

Next on your list of “to dos” in 2024 should be earning more money. Everyone wants a greater income but very few people do what it takes to get it. They become complacent and stay put at the job they are at, thinking that eventually their hard work will be rewarded. Unfortunately it does not work that way anymore.

If you want to get ahead and increase your income by 10 or even 20 percent this year, it may be time to move on to another company. Companies these days do not give large raises to current employees, instead saving this money to recruit new talent. Likewise, promotions from within are no longer as common.

So in 2024, dust off the resume and put yourself out there. Even a lateral move could be quite rewarding, financially. Use the extra money earned to improve your quality of life and boost your savings and retirement.

Start An Emergency Savings

Finally, you need to start a savings account, which could be the most important thing you do this year. For many, saving money is the hardest thing to do but it is absolutely necessary. Ideally, you should have at least six months of expenses in your emergency savings. This might sound challenging, but you just need to tackle it one step at a time.

The first step in starting an emergency savings is to open a savings account. This can easily be accomplished by using the same bank that you have a checking account with, but there is a better option. An online account from a company like Marcus by Sacs will have better interest rates and will give you separation between your day to day account and your emergency fund.

Once you have an account set up, choose an amount to start saving and set up automatic payments. A good target is saving ten percent of your net income. If this is not currently possible, save what you can for now and work on cutting expenses or improving income until you make it a reality.

That is it. Now all that you need to do is put this savings account out of your mind ant let your money automatically accrue from month to month. Before you know it, you will have six months of emergency expenses in reserve and can start looking more to the future with investment accounts.

Summing It All Up

Financial growth does not come automatically, in fact getting started could be one of the hardest things that you do this year. Once you initiate change however, there will be a snowball effect. Your income, savings and overall financial health will continue to grow almost without any effort on your part. So, make a point to get on the road to financial health this year and make 2024 the best year ever.