The What Not-To-Do Financial Checklist
If you’re like me, you’ve seen lots of “to-do” financial checklists and articles to start the new year. Including our own in webinar form: 2019 Financial To-Do List. How come nobody writes about the opposite, the “what not-to-do” list? Maybe it’s the fear of being negative or that they couldn’t come up with a list. Well, I can post my top-seven list right here.
The top seven things “not-to-do” financially when the new year begins:
Procrastinate. Don’t start worrying about your finances. Luck will take care of it. Maybe your parents or siblings will help you pay off those bills or fund your IRA. That weekend when you’ll get all the organizing done and bills paid is just around the corner you tell yourself.
Move the bills from one pile to the other pile. No sense in getting organized or prioritizing your bills. They always send you a second notice anyway. Just wait for those emails or letters to pop up. The bigger the print the sooner you should pay them, right?
Look at last year’s expenses. Who wants to know how much they spent at Starbucks or Macy’s? How many pairs of shoes did you buy? It doesn’t matter, does it? And, it might make you feel bad. I’m sure you’ll do better this year by not knowing where all the money went.
Look at your investment results. Why would want to do that when the stock market was such a bummer the last quarter of the year? If fact, just put everything in cash or the money market so it can’t go down anymore. That way you can sleep at night and not worry about the stock market. I’m sure someone will tell you when it’s safe to invest. By the way, that won’t be me.
Forget about that will. There are lots of famous people who die without a will and nothing else bad can happen to them that’s worse. Remember Aretha Franklin, Prince, and Michael Jackson? No biggie. The family will be ok, and the attorneys will help for a nice fat fee.
Keep emergency money in your checking account. It may not pay any interest, but you can get to it quickly. ATM card, checks and online banking are convenient. It wouldn’t be that much money if you took all that time and effort to find some insured savings account that paid you 2.5% interest. It’s too hard to figure out how much you’d earn anyway.
You’ve got until October to do your taxes. Yes, everybody talks about April 15th, but it just comes too fast. Unless you’re getting a giant refund, why spoil spring and summer? When it starts to get chilly again is time enough to do your taxes. What’s a little delay anyway? I hear all those business people wait until the last minute and look how smart they are.
So, there you have it. When complying with my not to-do list you will see it doesn’t take much effort at all. Since Netflix has raised its monthly subscription fee, you will be much better off watching more movies and shows with all that extra spare time and get your money’s worth.
Now, what not to-do for 2020?
