How Did You Do This Year? 6 Financial Vital Signs to Monitor
Being healthy and fit is important to me. Each year instead of a New Year’s resolution, I make myself a fitness challenge. These are big challenges. I spend a good portion of the year on the fitness journey so I can successfully complete the challenge. Some of my favorite past challenges include a triathlon, 10K cross country ski race, and summiting Mt. Whitney (which got foiled by an end of June blizzard!). I find that if I always have something I am training for, it motivates me to stay active and healthy.
So, what does fitness have to do with finances? Just like keeping our bodies healthy, it is important to keep our finances healthy. Financial health is important for leading a happy life and creates a foundation for a stable and secure financial life. But how do we know we have financial health?
Every time we see our doctor, they take our vital signs. That is because temperature, weight, height, blood pressure, pulse and respiration tell so much about overall health. If our vital signs fall outside of the healthy range, then we work on improving them. Below are my 6 financial vital signs so you can monitor your financial health and stay on track with your financial plan.
Rate yourself on each of these Financial Vital Signs. Click on the links to learn more about each of the vital signs, the MainStreet library is filled with great information!
How are your financial vital signs? How many are “Done”? How many are “Work in Progress”? How many needs “Help”? The goal is to get all your financial vital signs in the “Done” category. If any of your financial vital signs are in the “Work in Progress” or “Help” zones, figure out what steps you need to take to move them into “Done”.
This is a great time of year to see where you are at with your financial vital signs because you still have time to make improvements! Many people have open enrollment for employee benefits at work so you may be able to access life and/or disability coverage if you need it. In addition, there is still time to optimize your taxes for 2022.
I hope you find my 6 Financial Vital Signs helpful to reflect on your finances and plan for 2023! If you need help figuring out how to improve your financial vital signs, please reach out to us. We can help you build a plan to get financially healthy!
