Building Wealth

Do you have healthy financial habits? Here are a few ways to build wealth and maintain financial stability.

What are your life goals? Take a few minutes and write them out, and indicate how improving your finances can help you achieve them. If you haven’t already, list your financial goals as well.

Now that you have a list of financial goals it’s time to decide how you are going to reach them. Begin assessing your current financial habits. Do you have a growing savings account? Investments? Debt? Consider how your habits affect your goals, and start asking yourself when you make a decision if it will help you achieve them.

If you haven’t already, make yourself a budget and learn to stick to it. This can be a long process of determining wants versus needs. There are many programs that can help you track your expenses and create a budget, such as

YNAB

(youneedabudget.com, $60) or

Quicken

(quicken.intuit.com, $49.99.)

Eliminate debt, especially credit card debt. If you have a lot of it consider consolidating it all into one loan through a reputable program such as

Clearpoint Credit Counseling

. Credit counselling services can help you learn to manage your money and get out of the debt cycle.

Make regular contributions to your savings account. Many employers can automatically deposit a portion of your paycheck into a savings or investment account. Work towards always having enough set aside to pay your living expenses for a few months in the case of losing your job.

Start investing. Since investments accrue over time, the earlier the better. Sign up for a 401(k) to plan for the future. Since many employers match funds, it almost always makes sense to contribute to one.

Don’t put all your financial eggs in one basket. Have more than one type of investment to prevent losing everything should disaster strike.

Need help? Consider consulting a financial advisor to help you determine your financial pitfalls and to make a personalized plan.

Find good role models. Perhaps your parents or close friends are knowledgeable about finances and can help you develop good habits in all the small ways that get overlooked.

Remember that financial health is a long-term process and will need to be adjusted over time. Form healthy habits that are practical and can be maintained throughout life.