100 Financial Planning Tips for 2021

Top Financial Tips for 2021

When you shop for anything, you probably compare prices or interest rates, such as when you look for credit cards. Rather than make you look for the best financial tips for 2021, we put them all in one place for you, so you can easily find what you need. We included top personal finance tips and business finance tips so you can learn the keys to financial success.

These top money tips help you learn how to get ahead financially by combining common sense, business financial tips, and the overall best money advice that you can implement starting today.

You can be a new graduate with one student loan or many. You could be newlyweds trying to get your credit cards under control. Perhaps you want to raise your credit score to help you obtain a reasonable interest rate on your first mortgage. You can use these tips for getting ahead in life financially. Our financial planning tips cover your student loan, credit cards, your mortgage, investing, savings, etc.

Top Money Tips

1. Create a financial plan. Like most things in life, getting ahead financially takes planning. You could read a ton of books and websites, or you could consult with a financial planner or certified public accountant. Without this essential step, the other 99 do you little good.
2. Set your financial goals. Your goals reflect your life and your desires. Both you and your sibling or you and your best friend may have a financial plan, but they should and can differ depending on each individual’s goals. Forget trying to copy what they do or what they want. You need to determine how you are getting ahead in life financially.
3. Make a list of everything you want to achieve financially. This list includes the items you need money to finance, like education, but you have no tangible, physical representation of while you obtain it.
4. Prioritize your list according to your feelings and opinions. You need your goals and plan to mesh with your priorities and mindset. Without this, you likely won’t stick to the financial plan. This provides one of the best way to get ahead financially.
5. Re-examine and update your financial plan at regular intervals and points of major life change. Obtaining your college degree and getting married provide two of the key points for review. When you marry, you should jointly meet with your financial planner to consolidate your plans. You and your spouse need to agree on a financial plan and its goals.
6. Make a budget. Now stick to that nice, pretty budget. You need to layout all of your expenses and include savings. You need it to be comprehensive and easy to follow. This caveat proves vital to getting ahead in life financially.
7. Choose a budget method and stick to it. Many budgeting methods exist. Not all work the same for each individual. You need to choose one that suits your personality, goals, and financial savvy. Choose from line-item, categorical, zero-based, kakeibo, and many others. You should fully investigate each type before choosing your method. Budgeting proves the best way to get ahead financially.
8. Commit to going debt-free. That means you pay off your personal loans and credit cards, then close them down. You should be able to live nicely on your monthly earnings without needing credit. Ironically, those who least need to use credit typically have the highest credit scores. You will handle your mortgage a little differently.
9. Make a plan for paying off your loans, especially your mortgage. If you already allocate your current earnings in your budget, this means you need a new, additional stream of income. You might need a weekend job, a side gig or an independent contracting position. This activity proves vital to getting ahead in life financially.
10. Decide on joint or separate bank accounts with your spouse before you get married. You can set up separate ones for each person’s income and a joint account for bill pay including your mortgage. Set up automatic transfers from the individual accounts to the joint one, so the money always arrives there before the bill comes due.
11. Educate yourself regarding your bills and when each comes due. Know which credit cards and loans carry a late fee, when it hits, and any future penalties for late payments.
12. Create a plan to fully fund an emergency account. At a minimum, this means having $1,000 in savings to cover unexpected expenses such as emergency medical treatment or car repairs. Cute shoes on sale do not qualify as an emergency expense.
13. Found and begin funding retirement savings in college, if possible. You can open an individual retirement account independently. US tax law lets you contribute $1,000 to this savings each year tax-free.
14. Establish a diversified portfolio of investments that you build separately from your retirement account, emergency savings and regular savings accounts.
15. Consult with an insurance agent who offers a diverse set of insurance types. You need life, health, home and disability, also called long-term care. This coverage proves vital to getting ahead in life financially.
16. Plan ahead for your annual taxes. Work with your CPA to determine your estimated tax at least one year in advance. This process lets you save for it in twelve months, making it much easier to handle. You create a budget line for it and transfer that amount into savings each month. That lets you earn on the money while ensuring you painlessly have the money in April.
17. Plan out potential deductions, too. When you meet with your CPA to prepare your taxes, review available deductions and make a plan to take advantage of them. It will be too late for the taxes the CPA prepares at this meeting, but you know what to do to save money in the coming year.
18. Create an estate plan including your last will and testament plus any trust you wish to set up. This may include medical directives such as a do not resuscitate order. It also designates a guardian for any child or children you have.
19. Avoid overspending. You may make a mistake early on, but you should learn from it. It takes discipline to keep yourself from buying things you do not need or could delay purchasing.
20. Establish a monthly or weekly financial review routine. You make a coffee or tea date with yourself to review your spending, saving and investments. Keep your date with yourself and your financials without fail.
21. Reconcile your bank statements and automatic bill payments on a weekly or monthly basis. This keeps you current on what has already gone through plus you can easily catch erroneous charges.
22. Use an app like Stash or Acorns to get started saving and investing plus pick up valuable financial tips. You can set up round-ups that round each purchase you make to the next whole dollar and place the change into a savings account that you can set up to invest in a money market account or an investment portfolio. The apps also provide valuable financial tips.
23. At your monthly review, compare your actual expenditures to your budget. You need to ensure that you stick to your budget.
24. Set up an automatic transfer to pay yourself each month. One transfer goes into your savings, the other into your investment accounts.
25. Set up automatic payments for all of your bills, too. This includes once per year items like insurance. Using this automatic payment method ensures you never forget to pay your invoice.
26. Rebalance your investment portfolio at least once every six months. Certainly, it is important to buy and hold, but you also need to check the distribution between the kinds of stock and bonds you own.
27. At least once per year and at major life events, review your insurance policies. Review your auto policy every six months and conduct a search for more economical insurance.
28. Calculate your net worth annually. If you are just starting out, do not freak out if your net worth is negative. That is normal in your independent financial beginnings. This measure of your financial health tallies your assets and subtracts your debt. For most recent college graduates who took out college loans, it is negative. Once you hit your 30s or 40s, you should have your credit cards and loans paid off. You should own a home or condo, perhaps a car, if it makes sense where you live.
29. Once per year, make a date with yourself to review where you are and where you want to be in a fiscal sense. Conduct a self-interview. Examine your core financial values. Identify any setbacks that caused delays in the reaching of your goals. Conduct a reality check of whether your goals and milestone schedule reflect reality.
30. Keep a financial journal that lets you express new goals, frustrations at delays in reaching goals, and ideas for increasing your income.
31. Break your financial goals into short-, mid- and long-term goals. You need to envision your future as you want it and work to provide it. Examine the lifestyle you want and whether your current career or job can provide it.
32. Use an expense tracking app to determine where your money goes. Only use credit or debit cards linked to this tracker to spend money. Doing this leaves you no wiggle room or forgotten expenses. Knowing where you spend your money can change how you spend it. This process provides one of the keys to financial success that lets you get ahead in life.
33. Calculate your net income. Your net income refers to what you have earned after allocating 15 percent to savings.
34. Calculate your fixed burn rate to two decimal points. Your monthly fixed costs determine your budget allocations. You may need to earn more by taking on a second job if your first job’s salary gets reduced and you must continue living with your fixed costs. This situation commonly occurs when an individual lives in an area with a housing shortage.
35. Use multiple bank accounts. You need at least a checking and a savings account. Some high-income individuals may use up to five checking accounts to keep budget categories separate and make money management simple.
36. Leverage your business network for tips and tricks to better run your finances. The advice of successful people can help you become successful, too. This advice proves vital to getting ahead in life financially.
37. Check your credit score annually. This does not cause a hard credit check to your account. That means you do not lose credit score points for checking it yourself. You get three free credit checks per year. Use one for each of the major credit reporting bureaus. Doing this lets you obtain a clear picture of your credit score and credit health.
38. Immediately report any incorrect information on your credit report. You must report it and dispute it to have it removed.
39. For any credit account that you do not recognize, you need to file a dispute. This process provides one of the keys to financial success by alerting the credit card bureau to the possibility that someone stole your identity. The credit reporting bureaus provides a form and instructions on how to report the crime to your local police. This process lets you pursue legal remedies, including criminal charges when the individual gets caught and arrested.
40. Always pay yourself first. That means your money for savings and investment goes into those accounts first.
41. Raise your credit score by cleaning up your credit report and paying all bills on-time or early for six months straight. You are not stuck with the FICO score you earned on your first credit check. You can repair your credit. This repair proves vital to getting ahead in life financially.
42. Implement micro-steps. Sign up for any complimentary savings program or insurance policy offered through your work. It may not provide the coverage you set as a goal, but having a savings or investment account is better than none.
43. Use the complimentary financial planning resources your bank or credit union provides. These classes help you learn the ropes and important financial tips that can help you get ahead financially.
44. Document your income fully, including all sources. As the kakeibo method stipulates, that includes birthday and holiday money you could reasonably expect to receive.
45. Organize your financial records and keep them that way. It just makes everything easier.
46. Discover and use online budgeting tools like those located on Budgetry.com. These financial planning tools can help you organize, plan, and budget. Other options include Mint, Personal Capital and PocketSmith. Many of these sites have blogs chock full of financial planning tips that can help you .
47. Just like writing a paper in school, divide the work into manageable chunks. Rather than trying to accomplish all of your financial planning in one sitting, handle it one piece at a time. Plan one thing at a time. Organize one day. Document income the next day. Budget the next day, etc.
48. Spend less money. This item can be tough when you first get things organized. You start seeing your balances grow and become tempted to see all that money in an account. Resist the temptation to spend.
49. Cut your expenses. That does not mean downsizing as this entry in the list of business finance tips might make it seem. You can find a cheaper phone plan with just as much data available. Reduce your cable bill by using an online service like Sling. You get the same premium channels, but for only $30 to $35 per month.
50. Negotiate lower interest rates for your credit cards and loans. You can do this by phoning each creditor and asking for a reduced rate based upon your history with the lender.
51. Take out a zero-interest credit card that allows balance transfers. Move all the balances you can to it. This process provides one of the keys to financial success by instantly reduce your monthly costs plus save you money over the long run.
52. Slash your grocery bill. Groceries comprise one of the most expensive categories. Find a reasonably priced store. Clip and use coupons. Change the products you purchase to generics.
53. Plan your meals and cook ahead. That lets you take your lunch to avoid the expense of eating out. The best way to get ahead financially is to spend less and save more which this does.
54. Grocery shop alone. Your children or spouse may not prioritize eating right or eating for less. Shopping will be much easier when you go alone. You can also purchase groceries online and have them delivered to your home. This process saves you the gas of grocery store runs, and you free your time to spend it another way.
55. Review the subscriptions and memberships you have and only keep the ones you actively use. Many people subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime TV, Spotify, and Hulu, but they only watch one service. Cancel the subscriptions and memberships you do not regularly use.
56. If a subscription lets you view on more than one television or Internet-enabled device, split the cost with a family member or friend who also subscribes so you can both save money.
57. Try the generic versions of grocery items and household cleaners you use. Read the labels. Most generics use the exact same ingredients as the name brands, but minus the fancy packaging and huge marketing budgets. The store-brand probably tastes the same or works the same as the name brand product. They often get manufactured in the same plants. You save money on the generic brand because the store does not advertise them.
58. Drop your cable or satellite subscription. The average cable bill costs $107 per month. You can watch the same live television broadcasts on your computer or smart televisions now. You subscribe to a service like Sling, which charges $35 per month.
59. Activate automatic savings like roundups from purchases and automated withdrawals from your paychecks. This procedure makes it simpler to save money and build your savings account.
60. Spend “fun” money wisely. Whether it comes from a work bonus, tax refund, birthday gift or inheritance, use it to pay off debt. If you already paid off all of your debt, stash the cash in your emergency fund.
61. Adjust the federal and state tax withholding from your paycheck to just cover your tax bill. Put the money in the bank in savings so you can earn interest on it. Make your money grow.
62. Have your local utility conduct an energy assessment on your home. They typically cost nothing but can help you save a lot. Install low flow water faucets in your shower, so you use less water when you bathe. Fix pipes that leak. Install LED lightbulbs and dimmer switches to conserve energy. Save your money for energy-efficient appliances that will help you lo bills over the long-term.
63. Unsubscribe from marketing emails so, you will spend less money. The sale or coupon or promo code offered does not matter if you would not have bought the item due to need.
64. Experiment with implementing a self-imposed spending freeze. For one week only purchase essential items such as groceries and hygiene products such as shampoo and conditioner. Make your lunches and take them with you, eating only what you brought. At the end of the week, place your money in the savings account.
65. Learn how to do everything for yourself. Take a class or watch videos to learn how to install a backsplash, change a doorknob, change a tire, etc. You can save yourself gobs of money by repairing small items yourself. The more independent and self-sufficient you are, the greater amount of money you will save.
66. Rather than buying books to read, check them out of your local library. Whether rural or metro, libraries now provide e-books, as well. You could find the book and read it without leaving your home or spending any money. In addition to books, you can also rent movies and games from your local library – all at no cost.
67. Plan a staycation for your next vacation. Sleep in your guest bedroom. Explore the cool tourist sights of your local area. You can save hundreds or thousands of dollars by doing this. Eat two meals at home, but one out per day. While this may not sound like it fits in top personal finance tips at first blush, you save the vacation money and put it into savings or investments.
68. Declutter your home by holding a garage sale or yard sale. If you love it, keep it. Otherwise, sell it. Only sell your items, not your husband’s or children’s and not the neighbors’. Put the money you earn in your savings account.
69. Prioritize your debt payoffs by re-paying the highest interest rate credit card first. This method saves you the most money.
70. Plan all your due dates, reviews, quarterly taxes due, credit report checks, meetings with your financial planner and/or CPA. Write them down on a single, central calendar you hang in a place you see it every day. The best way to get ahead financially is to always pay on time.
71. Allocate one minute per day for your finances. Check your transactions. This entry in the top personal finance tips helps you keep on top of your spending and immediately catch any unauthorized transactions.
72. Spend 20 percent of your income each month on financial priorities, including paying off debt, building emergency savings and building your individual retirement account. This gem of the top business finance tips applies just as well to personal saving and investment. In business, you refer to the financial priorities as overhead.
73. Limit your lifestyle spending to 30 percent of your budget. This limitation might be tough to adjust to doing, but it means you will have lots of money in savings, and all of your bills will get paid, too.
74. Get creative. Create a vision board for the number one financial goal you have. Hang this next to your financial calendar and enjoy the focus on what really matters – your financial stability and net worth.
75. Only compare yourself to yourself. Once every six months, run a report to see where you are, compared to the last two financial quarters. Each time you do this, you should see at least slight improvements. How you are doing compared to your neighbor or your best friend does not matter, but how you are doing today compared to how you were doing six months ago should show continued improvement.
76. Write yourself a spending mantra to remind you that you want to act and behave positively, allowing you to save money. Each time you start to spend money for any reason except paying necessary bills like rent and utilities, you speak your mantra. It would be something like, “Is this [insert name of potential purchase] better than a trip to Atlantic City next year?”
77. Remind yourself consistently that your finances provide a way for you to show your self-value. You show yourself love when you save money because you prioritize your future.
78. Think positively and rationally. Tell yourself, “I can pay this debt off in 12 months if I stick to my budget.” Always put terms in a positive light.
79. Workout more often to boost your productivity. Jogging, running or race walking can boost your productivity by increasing your energy levels.
80. Owning things will not make you happy. You have to be happy. Appreciate what you have now and show gratitude for your existing home, job, life, etc. This appreciation makes it easier for you to save your money and build wealth. It makes it easier to save money for big-ticket items you need like a car or house.
81. The exception to paying off the high-interest rate credit cards and loans is if you have one small credit card bill that you could pay off in one payment. Cut off a couple of unused subscriptions and save your money from the coffee shop for a week or two, making coffee at home or the office instead. Put all of the extra money together with your regular monthly payment and eradicate that one credit card. Once it gets paid off, stop using it. Keep the line-of-credit open, so it helps you raise your credit score by increasing the amount of available credit you have.
82. Ask a friend with positive spending habits to be your money buddy. You can encourage each other to develop good money habits by meeting once per week or once per month lunch.
83. Avoid cosigning for loans. Your credit score takes the hit if the other party misses a payment or makes a late payment.
84. All college students should file a FAFSA to find out if they qualify for grants. Last year, the federal government estimates that 1.3 million students who would have qualified for a federal Pell Grant missed out on it because they did not file the form. That was thousands of dollars they would not have had to pay back. Most students who did not file said they thought they would not qualify.
85. If you must obtain a college loan, you should take out a federal student loan. Skip the private student loan options. They cannot compete with the low-interest rates of the federal government. The best way to get ahead financially is to use loans as little as possible and make the interst rate as low as possible.
86. Among the best business finance tips you will find negotiating better deals. Negotiate your student debt, if you have any, by calling your financial lending institution to learn about any extended payment, graduated payment or income-based plans. You can obtain a reasonable student loan payment.
87. Spend money on what gives you lasting enjoyment. If you love experiences, like most Millennials, then spend money on concerts, football games and vacations when you do spend. If you love tangible items, like most Gen Xers, then spend money on bedding, crystal, china, or football jerseys. What makes you happy should be what you buy with your disposable income.
88. Avoid signing up for overdraft protection because it psychologically encourages you to overspend. You also typically incur a fee for it.
89. Avoid withdrawing money from your retirement account unless you utterly must. A medical emergency qualifies as a must, as does a first home purchase. The IRS has ten reasons you may withdraw early without penalty or incurring taxes on the withdrawal.
90. Use a secured credit card to repair bad credit. You need to have regular income and some savings to do this. With a secured card, you make a deposit of money. The credit card company sets your credit limit using this deposit. Use the card only for small purchases and then pay off the entire balance all at once. Do this for six months to raise your credit score by about 25 points. Do this for another six months to raise your credit score by another 25 points. By the end of one year of on-time payments, your credit card issuer typically removes the secured requirement, refunding your deposit and transitioning your secured card to a regular credit card.
91. Purchase a term life insurance in addition to your workplace insurance. This policy provides added financial protection for your family if you die.
92. Take out a renter’s insurance policy. These low-cost investments provide you with the funds to replace items lost in natural disasters, robberies and damaged by vandalism.
93. One of the business finance tips refers to keeping money in separate accounts. Move money from your checking to your savings account. You cannot accidentally spend if you must stop and transfer it from savings to checking before you spend money. This process provides one of the keys to financial success by forcing you to take an accountability moment. Another bonus of this is that you can earn interest on the savings account.
94. Open a second savings account at a different bank than you have your checking. Use it to build a second savings account unlinked to your checking. Make sure they offer high-yield savings and do not charge fees.
95. Save money by finding bank accounts that charge no monthly fees. If your checking account requires a monthly service fee, that is money you waste. Save the $5 per month and put the $60 per year into your high-yield savings.
96. Switch to a credit union for better interest rates, easier loans, and improved customer service. This qualifies as one of the top personal finance tips because following it can do so much to improve your financial situation.
97. Your emergency savings only gets used for five actual emergencies – medical need, funeral travel, car repairs or emergency home repairs such as a leaking roof or drain pipe.
98. Start an investment account once you have funded your emergency account. An individual employed by a company needs six months of savings; a self-employed person needs nine months of savings. It should be a separate account. Leave the emergency fund intact and start the investment account from scratch.
99. Calculate your spending rate. That means how much money you spend each month on anything that is not housing, utilities, food, or savings.
100. Rather than focusing on return on investment with your savings account, focus on the saving part. You build wealth when you contribute to your savings account. Adding money to it each month gets you rich more quickly.

Follow these simple 100 tips on how to get ahead financially. Some of the best money advice you can find comes from business. Avoid discounting financial tips you see that refer to business because you can often implement the same advice in relation to your personal earnings. Collect those business finance tips you read online in Microsoft OneNote or Bublup. This process makes them easy to find when you have your monthly appointment with yourself. When you have amassed an impressive collection of the top personal finance tips and business finance tips, you can share the best way to get ahead financially by sharing your document as a webpage. No two of these tips sites are alike. You will discover unearth financial tips that other sites did not. Pass them along to help others also learn the best way to get ahead financially.