How to automate your finances
How to automate your finances in this fast paced world? Sometimes we have so many things going on that we forget things. However, forgetting to pay your credit card bills or other financial obligations can destroy your financial progress and keep you from achieving your financial goals. We will share how to automate your finances and avoid falling behind on your bills.
Automatic payments
Automatic payments will make sure you never miss a bill. Remember to periodically check on your automatic payments and make adjustments when necessary. Automatic payments will guarantee your major bills are paid on time. A great rule of thumb is to schedule payments at least 3-5 business days before payment is due to avoid any system problems or one off maintenance problems.
Automate savings and investments
Making your payments on time is extremely important however you should also learn how to automate your finances to build your savings and to build your investments. I always encourage my clients to contribute to an employer sponsored retirement plan such as 401k plans, 403b plans or 457s. Outside of building your retirement accounts the contributions are usually automatic. It means your employer will automatically move funds from your paycheck directly into those accounts. Automating your savings and investments is a big step in building wealth.
Similar to retirement savings you want to create automatic contributions to your savings account in order to build emergency savings funds. When your savings equal 3-6 months of your monthly expenses it’s time to start building your investment account. Whether saving or investing start small but stay consistent. Anything is better than nothing. And it’s never too late to start.
Set up alerts
The last step on how to automate your finances is to set up alerts. Setting up alerts will create a safety net for when your bills need to be paid. Automatic payments are the first line of defense but as an extra safety measure alerts will miss anything else. I also create alerts for when I will do a deep dive on my credit report usually once per month. When I do a deep dive I save all three reports and compare them and use them to show my progress towards goals.
At Budget Build Buy we offer many resources to help our clients build savings, build income, buy a home and eventually build wealth.
