Money Reflections: 5 Good Financial Questions to Ask Yourself
24 May 2020
It’s not polite to talk about money, right? This is a bit strange, though, considering we all rely on money every single day! Like it or not, it’s how we live, eat, and provide for our families.
Unfortunately, many people have not taken the time to ask themselves important questions about their own financial situation.
Below, we offer five good financial questions to ask that will get you started in your self-evaluation!
Good Financial Questions To Ask
We would love to meet you and offer detailed financial advice, but just to get you thinking about money, here are five important questions to consider.
Do You Have Enough For Essentials?
Lots of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck–some studies indicate as many as 74% of all employees are doing so. This means they are only making enough money to pay all their basic expenses each month with none left over.
This is the minimum level for your personal finances. You should ask yourself if you at least have enough to pay all your bills without missing a rent payment or bouncing a check.
Could You Survive If You Lose Your Job?
How long would you be able to pay for essentials if you unexpectedly lost your job? This could be due to an unexpected life change, being laid off, or something no one was anticipating (think: coronavirus pandemic).
However it may happen, you’ll want to prepare an emergency fund in advance. Reasonable recommendations usually say to have enough money set aside to pay for 3-6 months of expenses.
This hopefully will last you until you find a new source of income.
What Goals Do You Have?
If you do not have those first two issues addressed, those should be your immediate goals. But, after that, think to yourself what goals do you actually want to accomplish?
Do you want to own a nicer house or car? Do you want to be able to pay for college for yourself or your kids? Do you simply want to live a little bit more comfortably?
Do you want to be wealthy?
Good things rarely come from a lack of planning. It’s important to have specific goals and then take steps to accomplish them.
What Is Keeping You From Achieving Them?
This is the next crucial question. Once you have your financial goals written down, you must act to achieve them.
Ask yourself what is preventing you from achieving your goals? If you over overspending, look into ways to reduce your spending.
Maybe you are very frugal but still not saving enough. The solution may simply be that you need a higher paying job. How you can do this? Do you need to meet new people who may have connections? Do you need to learn a new skill?
The point here is you must take action.
Do You Have Enough For Retirement?
Even though retirement can seem so far away, it’s extremely important to think about at any age of adulthood. We offer great retirement planning services, and you should take advantage of professional expertise.
Even relatively small actions you take now planning for retirement will have big effects later on. You don’t want to work into your nineties!
Contact Us
Please contact us to learn more about how to achieve your financial goals. The above are good financial questions to ask to get you started as you think about money. We would love to meet with you to discuss your options for a better financial life now and in the future!
