Stacy Francis Featured on Katie Couric Media about Ways to Save Money in the New Year
President and CEO Stacy Francis was invited to share her financial expertise with Katie Couric Media. In the December 2020 article, she explains what steps people can take to get a fresh start in 2021 and improve their finances, how much to save and when, and how to reduce risk when investing in the stock market.
Her first suggestion is to revisit your budget and expenses. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year, many people have changed the way they are spending to accommodate a new way of living. With the distribution of the vaccine promising to return life (and your expenses) back to normal, you should find ways to compromise adding the things back into your budget that you enjoy while also keeping your budget goals in mind. Stacy shares with Katie Couric Media a handful of budget tracking tools that you can use to reassess your financial health in the new year.
Stacy also shares how much you should be saving each month along with tips on how to hit those savings goals. 20% seems out of reach for many people, but by putting your savings into a different account that isn’t easily accessed, your funds can grow without the temptation to splurge. She says “Let it grow and learn to live on the rest. Our human nature is that we spend what’s in front of us. Get this out of your sight so that you can start to build that emergency fund”.
In addition to saving, she encourages people to not feel intimidated by the stock market because you can follow some common practices that people who succeed in investing in the stock market take: choose a longterm mixture of stocks and bonds, stick with the market through gains and losses, and pick the best combination of investments for your personal needs.
Finally, she shares her hopes for recent college graduates and how they can budget for new expenses like credit card debt and student loans while still saving for retirement, and how putting away even small sums of money now will “get you on track to your retirement faster than you can ever imagine”.
Learn more about how Francis Financial can help you manage your wealth or contact a qualified wealth management advisor to help you plan, grow, and protect your assets.