2017 is now behind us and 2018 is a clean slate, waiting for us to fill in the blanks. You’ve probably already thought about New Year’s resolutions during the first week of January. If you felt any stress over money last year, you may be thinking about making some financial resolutions to prevent that from happening this year.
Like intentions to work out and improve one’s diet, financial resolutions fall by the wayside far too easily. One reason these goals don’t stick is because people make vague resolutions. “I want to get better at managing my money” or “I want to save more” are well intentioned, but they lack the purpose, clarity, and details that will help make your goals achievable.
Widows also deal with a range of emotions and what some describe as a mental “fog”, particularly in the first year of grieving. The emotional upheaval that comes with the heartache of loss often makes it difficult to decide where to start.
To kickstart the thought process, here are a few financial resolutions you could make for 2018:
Make a Written Plan With a Purpose
On the surface, this doesn’t look like a resolution… more like a task related to your other goals… but it is in fact an excellent financial resolution. Resolve to make a written plan. Research has shown that simply putting pen to paper and writing your goals down has a profound impact on your likelihood of success.
Buy yourself a special notebook to write out your financial goals for 2018. I recommend getting one with several tabs. Write your main goal(s) in the first portion and use the other tabbed sections for note taking and information gathering whenever you meet your banker, tax preparer or any other advisor.
Be specific about your goals. Don’t just write “save more money”. Rather, say something like “I want to save for a two week vacation to Hawaii.” Then price out what the trip will cost, including airfare, accommodations, and spending money. When you’ve determined that number, think about what you need to do to save that amount, how long it will take, then write a target date in your notebook and circle it on your calendar.
I also recommend writing and highlighting a purpose statement for each goal. Using the trip to Hawaii as an example, a purpose statement might be something like:
It’s important for me to take time for rest and recreation. After the stress this past year, this vacation will give me the strength I need to work with the changes in my life. This vacation will help me reduce stress, re-energize, making me healthier in the long run.
Adding a purpose statement, and re-reading when you review your goals, will reaffirm WHY you’re working on your goal and aid in keeping your commitment level on track.
Get to Know Your Financial Advisors Better
Make 2018 the year you commit to having a better relationship with anyone who plays a role in your financial affairs. This would include whoever handles your banking, investments, tax preparation, insurance needs, and estate planning.
You may already have had a comfortable relationship with your advisors before your spouse passed away. That’s great, but you’ll be working with each of them with a different set of circumstances in front of you. Your life situation has changed materially. The relationship may feel different to your advisor now too. Take the time to make sure you’re both on the same page going forward.
If your spouse handled most of these relationships, and you’re feeling somewhat intimidated, don’t think you have to see these people on your own the first time you see them. Bring your financial buddy along. Having a second set of ears at the meeting will help you remember everything that is discussed. Bring your notebook and take notes. In the fog of grief, bringing a friend and having notes to re-read later will help you keep everything clear.
Make Money Management Part of Your Overall Self-Care
Commit to looking after your personal financial affairs by taking the view that managing your money is part of your overall self-care. In the same way you want to live a healthy lifestyle by eating well, staying active, and having positive relationships, you want your financial affairs to be in a healthy state too.
Like other elements of self-care, it helps to incorporate habits and routines into your life so eventually you don’t even have to think about what you’re doing.
A good first step is to set a specific time each week where you review your banking, bills, and other money matters. Choose a time that works for you. If you know you like to be out of the house and active on the weekends, pick a weeknight to work on your finances. If you’re better at working on detail-oriented tasks when you’re fresh, select a non-rushed morning where you can dedicate 15 to 20 minutes to your bills, banking, and investments.
As with your other self-care rituals, by routinely spending time on your money matters you’ll see your goals begin to take shape without it feeling like an onerous task. You’ll increase your confidence and decrease your stress.
Make a Commitment to Learn More
Commit to reading two or three books on financial topics this year. There are plenty of books written in easy-to-understand formats, Like the “For Dummies” series that offer personal finance books specific to various countries around the world. If your time for reading is limited, check out Audible.com and try listening to audio books or watch some short videos on YouTube.
Ask a friend to join you in enrolling in a community education course. Check with your library or local schools to see what programs are available. Many of these courses can be taken for little or no cost. You and a friend could consider working through an online course together too.
Learn how to use personal finance software. You could start by becoming more familiar with all the tools available through your bank’s online services. If you want to take it a step further, you could purchase or download one of the more popular programs and apps such as Mint or Quicken.
Making a commitment to learning more, using any of these simple methods, will give you the confidence to work with all aspects of your money.
Consider any of these financial resolutions for 2018. Pick one or two that you think you’ll realistically be able to tackle. Make a note to review your achievements and what you still need to work on every month. As 2018 moves along, you’ll see the progress that’s happening which will mean your New Year’s financial resolutions are working for you!
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