Financial Spring Cleaning Checklist

Spring cleaning isn’t just for your house, it’s also the perfect time to organize and simplify your money matters. Here are nine ways you can tidy up your personal finances, courtesy of the financial advisors at American Investment Planners, LLC:

• Review your credit report. Federal law requires each of the three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with one free credit report per year. Make sure your reports are free of mistakes, and communicate any problems immediately.

• Review your budget. If you created an annual budget at the beginning of the year, now is a good time to review your progress and make any necessary updates.

• Set up auto-pay, or auto-deposit. Missing bill payment deadlines can lead to late fees and damage your credit score. Set up auto-pay on your bills to eliminate the chance of this happening. Conversely, if you are having difficulty saving money, you can set up automatic deposits into your savings account.

• Consolidate accounts. Do you have several bank or investment accounts? Consider consolidating them into one. You will have less accounts to remember to check on, and bigger balances could offer more favorable rates.

• Pay off holiday debt. Are you still paying off debt from the holiday season? This type of debt tends to be high-interest, making it a priority to pay off as soon as possible.

• Go paperless. Enroll in paperless bank, credit card, investment, and insurance statements. This will not only reduce clutter around the home, it might even save you from account maintenance fees.

• Organize/shred old financial documents. Once you’ve gone paperless and eliminated future incoming documents, it’s time to focus on the paperwork which is currently cluttering your home. Tax documents should be kept in hard copy form for seven years, but you can safely shred old bank statements, credit card statements, and most receipts.

• Update beneficiaries. Important life events, such as birth, death, marriage, or divorce, can impact your beneficiaries. It is a good idea to review these every year to make sure everything is how you want it, and set a contingent beneficiary in case something happens to your primary recipient.

• Host a garage sale. When you get around to spring cleaning your home, gather all of your unwanted goods and host a garage sale. Put these extra funds into a savings account, or use them to pay off high-interest debt.

Need help organizing your finances? The professional advisors at American Investment Planners, LLC are here to help. To schedule a face-to-face appointment with one of our consultants, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.