March: End holiday debt & set up your IRA

March: End holiday debt & set up your IRA

If you came away from the 2020 holiday season with debt, the sooner you make a plan to pay it off, the less interest you’ll rack up. Figure out how much you owe and how to pay it off efficiently. It could make sense to do a balance transfer to lower the interest rate on your existing debt or take out a lower-interest personal loan to pay off your balances. Not sure where to start? We have a Financial Organizational tool located at www.investors-choice.com/useful-links  - when you enter in your outstanding debt you can use the debt calculator to find out how to pay it off quickly. Not sure how? That is where we help. I will never forget a conversation that I had with one of our clients while working with her on her mortgage repayment plan. I reworked her payment schedule and found a way that she would paid off her mortgage early and saved her $73,000 in interest payments! She asked, “Why didn’t someone else tell me this?” Unfortunately, they were not working for her – we do – that is why our locally-owned, private firm is aptly named “Investors Choice”. Not every situation is the same, but couldn’t a second set of eyes be worth it?

For the past 25 years the professionals at Investors Choice Financial Services have been helping people find ways for them to save. Saving for retirement is important because your retirement years aren’t going to pay for themselves. And the first step on that path is opening an IRA. If you are able to put a little money into that account right away, even better. Step 1: debt reduction, Step 2: pay yourself. What a wonderful reward it to be able to watch your Roth or Traditional IRA grow for your retirement years. This weekend I had three client appointments on Saturday – each of the clients are at a different point in their careers: just starting, out of debt & building, and able to retire. The two first appointments we were working on their retirement timelines, 67 and 65, respectively. I explained to both that we want to build their plan so they can financially retire at age 62…and then if they choose to work, go year-to-year, they are in control and they can be in charge of the decision to work. My third appointment… She is 61 and going to be able to retire early. I shared the experience of my two previous appointments, and she said it so clearly, “It will give them the financial flexibility to choose when to retire, and not have to work because they cannot afford to retire.”

No matter your stage in life, the premise stays the same, write down your goals, review and repeat them aloud on a regular basis (FYI – this is for all of your New Year’s Resolutions – not just your financial ones). 

#2021BestFinancialYear

#InvestorsChoice