Six Personal Finance Resolutions for 2021 Courtesy of a Certified Financial Planner

BETHESDA, Md. and PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly half of all Americans make New Year's resolutions every year¹. Over 50% of these resolutions will be related to finances.²  Making and keeping financial resolutions will be easier this year, thanks to these six personal finance resolutions courtesy of a Certified Financial Planner™ Christie Whitney, Rebalance's Vice President of Investment Advice.

1. Update Your Household Budget: Unfortunately many people either lost their jobs or had to temporarily stop working during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, many households have seen dramatic changes in their financial spending patterns over the past year. To ensure that you enter 2021 on the best financial footing possible, it is necessary to update your budget to reflect everything that has changed in the past year.
2. Build Your Emergency Savings: On the heels of a crazy 2020, now more than ever is it important to build (or rebuild) an emergency account for when times get tough.  Ideally, your emergency savings should be enough to support a minimum of 3-6 months of non-discretionary expenses, depending on how many wage earners your household has.
3. Set Financial Goals for the Year: The beginning of the new year is the perfect time to sit down as a family and map out exactly what you want to accomplish during the new year. Whether it is a major home improvement, much-needed vacation, or if you have college tuition looming on the horizon, identifying your specific financial goals are the first step to mapping out how to achieve them.
4. Take Stock of Important Documents: When is the last time you reviewed all of your important financial documents to ensure that everything is up to date? Have you developed a will and estate plan? Have you paid all insurance premiums? Are your beneficiaries up to date? If not, this is a good time to make all necessary changes.
5. Organize Your Documents: It isn't enough to develop a will and estate plan. You must ensure that you and your family can easily find them. An easy way to do this is to create a binder with everything in it—from your will and insurance policies to contact information of your financial advisor, attorney and insurance agent—and make sure your family knows where they can find it in case of an emergency.
6. Re-Evaluate Your Financial Plan: If you have a financial planner, this is a good time to check in with them if you haven't spoken within the past six months. If you don't have a financial planner, this is a good time to find one. Much has changed—from the IRA withdrawal age to how inherited IRAs are treated—that you need to ensure is reflected in your long-term financial plan. If you don't have a financial plan, you should work with a certified financial planner to develop one.

For more information or help getting your financial resolutions in order for 2021, visit https://www.rebalance360.com.

About Rebalance 
Rebalance is a mission-driven, award-winning investment firm committed to offering premium, fiduciary wealth management services to everyday investors. The firm is at the forefront of providing consumers with a fundamentally different and better set of investment options: lower costs, endowment-quality globally diversified investment portfolios, and systematic rebalancing. 

The Rebalance Investment Committee is anchored by three of the most respected experts in the finance world: Burt Malkiel, the world-renowned Senior Economist at Princeton University and author of "A Random Walk Down Wall Street"; Dr. Charley Ellis, the former longtime chairman of the Yale University Endowment; and Jay Vivian, the former Managing Director of IBM's $100+ billion in retirement investment funds for more than 300,000 employees worldwide.

Rebalance is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and Bethesda, MD and currently manages more than 600 clients with more than $750 million in financial assets. In 2018, Rebalance was honored by Schwab's 2018 Pacesetter IMPACT Award™ for Innovation and Growth. 

¹ https://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2013/01/01/just-8-of-people-achieve-their-new-years-resolutions-heres-how-they-did-it/?sh=1c7c90b0596b
² https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/urban-plates-ipsos-NY-Resolutions

Contact: Linda Sperling
Dir. of Strategic Communications
703-606-2518
[email protected]

SOURCE Rebalance

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