The new year is right around the corner, which makes now the perfect time to review your current finances, compare them to your finances around the same time last year, and plan for the future using FINRA BrokerCheck, among other tools.
Below are some of Francisco J. Faraco’s tips for ensuring financial success.
1. Take Stock of Your Financial Goals
If you made goals around the same time last year, you might want to revisit them and see how many you’ve achieved. Your goals could include the following:
- Daily expenses
- Unexpected expenses
- Savings
- Investments
If you have yet to start on the last point, you can always start now by using the FINRA BrokerCheck search engine. Look up advisors near you on Google and check their public disclosures on the online tool to ensure you’re trusting the right person/company.
If your financial net worth improved in 2022, aim higher in 2023. If it didn’t or got worse, seek to improve the following year. Here’s how:
2. Reevaluate Your Budget
Flip through your monthly budget to reevaluate your performance from January to the ongoing month. It’s not enough to meet your budget; you must also check if you capitalized on any saving opportunities or reshuffled your priorities to improve spending habits.
If you did all of the above and still managed to overspend, your budget may not be as realistic as you thought. Francisco Faraco agrees with the Bank of America’s approach to monthly budgets:
- Consider your net income after deductions, not before.
- Track your previous months’ expenses.
- Set future goals by cutting out unnecessary expenses. (Examples: streaming subscriptions, dining out, getting takeaway, etc.)
- Divide your take-home income into three portions: dedicate half to essential needs, 30% to non-essential needs, and 20% to savings.
- Revisit your new budget.
Image Filename: budgeting
Image Alt Text: A Man Sitting in Front of a Laptop Creating a Monthly Budget Based on Take-Home Income
3. Consult a Financial Advisor
It’s normal to feel lost despite accounting for current and future pay rises and allocating portions to essential, non-essential, and savings expenses. A monthly budget can be very unpredictable.
For instance, you might get hit with an improper waste disposal fine. Large expenses, whether welcome or unwelcome, can throw your entire budget out the window. The only solution is a financial advisor.
Find the Help You Need on FINRA BrokerCheck
Be it expenses within or outside your control; you can get a better handle on them by reviewing your current progress and future goals with a financial advisor. As mentioned previously, Faraco, you can easily find one with impeccable credentials on FINRA BrokerCheck.
It would be best to take the CFA Charterholder’s advice, whether or not you’re struggling to meet your financial goals. FINRA Brokercheck Francisco Faraco aims to make markets safe for working Americans like yourself. No one knows it better than a Morgan Stanley alum like Francisco Faraco.
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