{"id":4946,"date":"2021-11-22T13:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T21:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/?p=4946"},"modified":"2023-10-30T20:01:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T03:01:11","slug":"get-your-end-of-year-financial-health-checkup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/blog\/get-your-end-of-year-financial-health-checkup\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Your End-of-Year Financial Health Checkup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"co-flex_row co-flex_row__blue co-flex_row__last co-flex_row__long-form-text\" >\n\t<div class=\"co-flex_row--row co-row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form--block co-long_form--block__nomedia prow items-start \">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form--text pcol-md:12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-long_form--content\"><table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>As\u00a0the\u00a0eagerly awaited\u00a0holiday\u00a0season\u00a0gets\u00a0underway, the\u00a0end of\u00a0the\u00a0year is\u00a0a great time\u00a0to get a\u00a0financial health checkup\u00a0to make sure your finances are on track.<\/p>\n<p>With regular\u202fcheckups, you can fix small problems\u00a0before they become big issues.<\/p>\n<p>This year-end, keeping\u00a0financially\u00a0healthy\u00a0is\u00a0especially\u00a0important due\u00a0to many economic\u00a0uncertainties\u00a0related to\u00a0inflation,\u00a0inventory shortages,\u00a0as well as\u00a0the\u00a0expiration\u00a0of COVID\u00a0relief\u00a0programs put\u00a0in\u00a0place\u00a0more than a year ago\u00a0to help people manage through the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your Financial Health Check Up<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like a\u00a0physical\u00a0health\u00a0checkup, a financial\u00a0checkup\u00a0examines\u00a0your\u00a0vital signs\u00a0to be sure all is well when it comes to your financial\u00a0health and wellness.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have an emergency savings\u00a0account?\u00a0How do\u00a0your\u00a0credit card balances look? Are you tracking monthly income and expenses? What does your credit score and history look like? These are a few of the\u00a0vitals\u00a0reviewed during an end-of-year\u00a0financial checkup.<\/p>\n<p>From an overall budget review to managing credit card debt, the caring, NFCC-certified counselors at\u00a0GreenPath\u00a0will conduct a full review of your current financial\u00a0fitness\u00a0and provide recommended next steps for improving your financial health.<\/p>\n<p>A financial\u00a0checkup\u00a0guides you\u00a0to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Review Your Financial Goals:<\/strong>\u00a0Has there been a significant life change this past year? A change in jobs,\u00a0a marriage, divorce, home purchase or other big change can\u00a0affect\u00a0your overall financial\u00a0picture.\u00a0 A checkup is a good time to assess whether your current\u00a0financial goals\u00a0sync\u00a0up with your\u00a0overall situation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Understand Options to Move Forward after Relief Programs Expire:<\/strong>\u00a0Loans\u202fthat\u00a0were\u00a0deferred\u202fas part of COVID-related relief programs\u00a0need your attention.\u00a0\u00a0Deferments\u00a0provided\u00a0borrowers\u00a0with a little breathing room, but\u00a0now\u00a0that\u00a0the temporary pause in payments\u00a0has\u00a0expired,\u00a0a\u00a0checkup\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0good opportunity\u00a0to understand options, and take a closer look at\u00a0not only\u00a0any loans\u00a0that were on pause,\u00a0but also your entire financial picture.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Manage Income and Expenses<\/strong>:\u00a0One of the best ways to cope with inflation is to take the time to prioritize monthly spending.\u00a0A spending plan helps to ensure that what you spend\u00a0doesn\u2019t exceed\u00a0what you make each month as prices rise.\u00a0A financial\u00a0checkup\u00a0gives you\u00a0a better understanding of your income and expenses. It can also be a time to\u00a0set a\u00a0spending\u00a0plan\u00a0to\u00a0keep your finances on track and start saving for future goals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay Down Debt:<\/strong>\u00a0A checkup is a good time to explore\u00a0options to help you pay down credit card debt as well as options for managing other debts that may be on the horizon \u2013 such as expiring forbearances on mortgages or student loan payments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Assess\u00a0Your\u00a0Credit:<\/strong>\u00a0Are\u00a0you\u00a0looking to take out a mortgage or make another large purchase in the\u00a0New Year? A checkup is a great time to review your credit report to see where you\u00a0stand, and\u00a0get tips\u00a0to\u00a0improve your score moving forward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Your Checkup\u00a0Starts\u00a0Here<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Your financial fitness is key to a healthy\u00a0New Year.<\/p>\n<p>GreenPath\u2019s\u00a0caring, certified\u00a0counselors are\u00a0committed to\u00a0easing\u00a0financial stress and worry through access to clear information.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpath.com\/wellness\/year-end-checkup\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Connect with GreenPath for\u00a0your checkup<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0gain confidence over your money choices during a time of inflation or shortages.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is shared by our partners at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/greenpath-financial-wellness-at-sound\">\u00a0GreenPath\u00a0Financial Wellness<\/a>, a trusted national non-profit.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like a\u00a0physical\u00a0health\u00a0checkup, a financial\u00a0checkup\u00a0examines\u00a0your\u00a0vital signs\u00a0to be sure all is well when it comes to your financial\u00a0health and wellness. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/blog\/get-your-end-of-year-financial-health-checkup\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[103,104,107,106],"class_list":["post-4946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-finances","tag-financial-health","tag-financial-wellness","tag-new-year","tag-personal-finance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}