April is National Financial Literacy Month

If I asked you how much money you had in your bank account and how much you owed on your credit cards, would you be able to answer those questions? If I asked you about your retirement plans, would you be comfortable talking about it? The scary truth is that most Americans don’t know the first thing about their finances and more people are running out of money before they run out of bills to pay every month.

In 2004 the United States declared April as National Financial Literacy Month in an effort to highlight the importance of financial literacy and teach Americans how to establish and maintain healthy financial habits. Here at On Point Executive Center we believe that having a firm grip on your finances is empowering and because of this we caught up with Jeannie Holiday and Jodi Perez of Independent Financial Services to ask them for some advice on starting the financial education process. They directed us to some awesome worksheets and information from their parent company Raymond James’s blog and here are some of those financial wisdom nuggets from them to you:

If you don’t know your numbers, look them up now. Are you unsure of how much you’re spending on miscellaneous expenses and/or how much you’re earning each month? Get this budget tool. If you prefer it in writing instead of typing it in the computer get their printable worksheet HERE.

Examine and analyze what you learn from the budget exercise. Now that you know your numbers you can manipulate them. If you are spending more than you are earning you can look at where to cut back or perhaps see how much more money you need to be earning to make ends meet. Source

Get clear on what you need for retirement. If you don’t know how much money you will need for retirement then you’ll have no idea what your savings goals should be. Take a financial inventory here to start planning for your retirement. The sooner you start planning for it the better prepared you will be.

Want to learn about investing? Check out this glossary of investment terms.

Want to know about estate planning? Learn why you need to think about this now.

Still have questions? Call Independent Financial Services at (813) 908-2701 or toll free at (888) 811-1817.

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