Week 4 – Start Building Your Wealth!
Want to know a secret? By conquering your debt and living within your means, your wealth building has already started. Now those steps need to become more concrete. This is week four and we’ll cover the keys needed to take your wealth building to the next level. To start investing, start with yourself. By now you made the decision to change your life (week one), and you are getting debt under control and paying yourself first (from week two), and rightsizing your life (week three), and that extra cash should go into your savings account. Your first investing goal is to build up an emergency fund of three months of fixed expenses and then up to six months of fixed expenses. Your first investment is and always will be YOU!
Beyond that emergency fund cash cushion, it’s time to utilize other wealth builders. The main candidate is your retirement plan through your employer. Be sure that you are contributing at least to the maximum match amount provided by your employer. Once you are at the match amount, up your contributions by at least an additional 1% each year. If your plan has an automatic increase feature, enroll in or turn this feature on. Over the years your contributions will increase on schedule and you likely won’t even notice the pay difference.
If you do not have a retirement plan at work, open an IRA. Depending on your age, income and other factors you’ll need to decide between a traditional IRA that may provide you with some immediate tax savings, or a Roth IRA that you contribute to post-tax. If you are self-employed, you may be a good candidate for a SEP IRA or a solo 401(k). If you are maxing out these options it may be time to consider a taxable investing account. A consultation with a fee-only financial planner will help you sort out what options are best in your personal situation.
As an independent Certified Financial Planner™, I can help you narrow your choices and find savings and investments that best fit your situation. Contact me and let’s get started! #talktometuesday #Hireaplanner #income #cash #CFPPro #IRA #RothIRA #Roth #401k #emergencyfund #wealth #FiveKeysToFinancialFreedom #FinancialIndependence