It’s always a good time to pay attention to your finances. Whether in the middle of a recession or during boom times, always pay attention to where your money is going and how well it’s doing for you. Here are some things you should focus on.
1. Be sure you have a great emergency fund. Emergencies happen and you need to have money to pay for them. It used to be that 6 months was ok, now people are suggesting a year’s worth of savings. At the very least go for 3 months, then keep going.
2. Pay off your debts. Keep those credit cards locked up and pay off the balances. Reduce your debt so you have more cash flow to play with. The stress relief of this act is enormous. Imagine only having the mortgage bill each month.
3. Boost your retirement contributions. Whether you have a 401k, a Roth IRA, or a series of laddered CDs don’t neglect their balances. Add to it monthly and keep it growing. The more you add the harder your money works for you and the more you’ll have to sustain you in retirement.
4. Have a backup plan. What if you lose your job? Do you have secondary skills you should be honing so you can market yourself other places? Work on your computer skills and anything else that you’re good at so you can easily move into a variety of fields should something happen to your present job.
Doing these things can help ensure that your future is more secure regardless of what happens.