A Few Financial Resolutions for the New Year

Once all the Christmas dinners are done, the guests have gone home, the Boxing Day shopping is done, our new purchases are safely home, and the house is quiet as we wait to bring in the New Year, our thoughts often begin to turn toward resolutions for the new year.  Many of those resolutions will be about lifestyle (eating better, losing weight, going to the gym more, etc.), but let’s add a few financial items that will serve us well in the year to come.

1. Pay off those credit cards fully every month – many cards have an interest rate of 18% or more on carried balances, so it’s important to pay them off completely every month.
2. Review your automated savings plans such as RRSP, RESP and TFSA contributions to make sure you’re taking full advantage of them. If you’re receiving a raise beginning in the New Year, this is a great opportunity to bump up your monthly contributions just a little to painlessly take advantage of your higher income.Remember the TFSA contribution limit for 2019 has been increased to $6,000 and for RESPs, you can contribute $2,500 per eligible child to receive the maximum Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) per year.
3. Start saving for your summer vacations as soon as the holiday bills are paid.You can begin looking forward to your summer adventures, while accumulating the funds to pay for them.
4. If it’s been a while since you last reviewed your will and Power of Attorney documents, book some time to look them over to see if they need any updates.If you don’t have them in place already, it’s time to get them done (people of all ages should have these documents, for more reasons than can be listed here).
5. Set aside some time to meet with your financial advisor to review your longer-term goals and plans.Keeping your advisor up to date helps ensure you receive timely advice to help you reach those goals.It doesn’t have to be in January, but make sure this item gets onto your calendar!

Anne Hammond is a Financial Advisor with RGF Integrated Wealth Management. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of RGF Integrated Wealth Management, which makes no representations as to their completeness or accuracy.

© 2018 RGF Integrated Wealth Management. Ltd., RGF Wealth Management. Ltd., Member - Canadian Investor Protection Fund

Estate Planning Misconceptions

In this 5-minute webinar, we explore an important but often misunderstood area of financial planning.

Learn More