Your Financial Health Check-In

Mar 23, 2022 Personal Finances

A financial check-up is just as important as a physical. Learn how to evaluate fiscal matters to gauge your financial wellness.

A woman sitting at a desk and using a laptop. She is also writing in a notebook.

Talking about physical health and going to the doctor for regular check-ups is socially acceptable for many. So why is talking about financial health considered a taboo subject? Especially when, according to the Financial Health Network, only 34% of U.S. households are financially healthy.

Imagine if financial health check-ups became the norm. What if checking the weight of debt, gauging the pressure of finances, taking the temperature of a budget, and preventative maintenance to avoid a financial disaster were commonplace? What if financial professionals could diagnose your financial illnesses and prescribe strategies to solve these issues? If this sounds good to you, you’re in for a treat! These tools and financial professionals exist! Here are some nutritional tips to help you get and stay financially healthy.

Weighing Debt

The first step in a physical check-up is getting weighed. Checking the scale is important for several reasons: ensuring a person isn’t over or underweight, evaluating the reasons for sudden changes, and for the doctor to prescribe the correct dose of medicine should the patient need it. To ensure your debt load is a healthy weight is an easy three-step process:

STEP ONE

Assess Income: This means every source of income. Common sources of income are wages, self-employment, child support, alimony, public benefits, tax refund, gifts, etc. Be conservative with estimates of income that are not guaranteed, such as bonuses, overtime, and temporary employment. It’s best to use net income or take-home pay when deductions are involved to simplify the process.

Pro Tip: If tips are a source of income, try to average the amount. If tip income is more than the average amount, add those funds to monthly savings to avoid budgeting gaps for the months where tips are less than average.

STEP TWO

Assess Expenses: Assessing expenses begins by making a list of items paid for each month. There are three types of expenses:

Pro Tip: To make variable expenses realistic amounts, average the large and small bills and use the same strategy as tip income described above. When the actual amount is less than the average amount, add the difference to savings to avoid funding gaps when the bill is a larger amount.

STEP THREE

Analyze Results: This step is the moment of truth that includes determining the viability of the budget. For this step, subtract all expenses from total net income. If there’s a surplus of funds — Congratulations! You have a viable budget, and the only thing left to do is plan what to do with that discretionary money. If the amount is a negative number, there are choices to make.

Pro Tip: A viable budget should include savings, entertainment, and miscellaneous spending.

Taking The Temperature Of A Budget

The nurse takes the temperature of patients to ensure they’re not sick. However, taking some time to review the family budget can determine if it’s healthy or needs some care. The one rule of a budget is that expenses must never be more than income. If a budget isn’t healthy, there are two possible solutions – increasing income and/or decreasing expenses.

Increasing income can be as flexible or structured as you choose. Here are a few ideas:

Decreasing expenses could be a series of small or large changes, including:

Budgeting

Find out how you can reimagine your budget using the 50/30/20 rule.

Components Of Financial Health

The main components of financial health are healthy spending, saving, borrowing, and planning. A deep dive into the family finances at least once a quarter is a great way to check on each of these components. This deep dive should include:

Pro Tip: If the debt is at an unhealthy level, visit your financial institution to discuss a debt repayment strategy.

Monitor assets to ensure they remain adequately insured and there’s a plan for the estate. By adding life insurance, long-term disability, and a will, the whole family is protected from the unknown.

Like our physical health, financial health is determined by both circumstances and choices; changing either can profoundly impact financial stress levels. Finding a way to incorporate as many of the components of financial health will help keep our bodies and minds in alignment.

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