Today, Nov. 3, 2020, is election day, so we will find out soon whether Donald Trump will remain president or be ousted by Joe Biden. The Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb doesn't get into politics. However, since this blog post IS about personal finances, this article from CNBC discusses how a Biden or Trump presidency will affect your personal finances if you are in the mood for an illuminating read.
What we would like to talk about today rather than politics are steps you can take now to prepare your personal finances for 2021. To start out, we would like to share with our readers below 15 personal finance tips from Kiplinger that will help prepare you for 2021. Take these financial steps before New Year’s Day and you can save on taxes, improve your credit, fine-tune your portfolio, and boost your retirement savings. It goes into great detail about each move listed, so take some time to read the article in full. The tips are geared more toward mature individuals, those of you who are seasoned investors, and for people who haven't yet retired.
- Fine Tune Your Portfolio
- Boost Your Yield
- Try Out The New Tech Leaders
- Reap Rewards For Giving to Charity
- Avoid an April Surprise
- Reduce the Tax Bill on Investments
- Max Out Retirement Savings Plans
- Prepare for 2021 Minimum Required Distributions
- Use Your Credit Card Reward Points
- Revisit Credit Limits and Annual Fees on Credit Cards
- Watch Out For ID Theft and Protect Yourself
- Working Remotely? Use Up FSA Funds
- Manage HSA Contributions and Withdrawals
- Squeeze In Medical Appointments
- Don't Forget to Tip
Another great article to help with personal finances going into 2021 is geared more toward younger people just starting out handling their finances on their own, courtesy of Atypical Finance. The article is titled 10 Ways to Make 2021 Your Best Financial Year Yet, (No Matter What This Year Looked Like.) As with the article above, there are detailed instructions and advice for each tip, so take the time to read the article in full. We have simply listed the 10 suggested steps below:
- Invest in Yourself
- Start a Budget
- Invest Your Money Wisely
- Take a Look at Your Tax Situation
- Set a Goal
- Set Milestones on the Way to That Goal
- Cut Things Out of Your Life
- Increase Your Income
- Find and Focus on Your "Why"
- Automate Everything
The last article we are going to reference about ways to get your personal finances ready for 2021 is for our readers who are older and getting close to retirement. The article comes from the Mooresville Tribune and is titled 7 Social Security Facts Every Retiree Should Know. Again, as with the two above articles, the author has gone into detail with each fact so read the full article. We have simply listed those 7 facts below for your convenience:
- You Have to Qualify
- How Much You Receive Depends on When You Retire
- You Are Taxed
- There is a Cost of Living Adjustment
- Spouses Get Benefits Too
- You Get a One Time Reset
- You Can Collect SS While You are Still Working
We have covered what we feel are all scenarios and age groups in this blog post designed to help you with your personal finances headed into 2021. One other way you can improve your personal finances going into 2021 is by using the tools from MoneyThumb designed for home use. You will be pleasantly surprised how much our PDF financial file converters can help make your financial picture much clearer and easier to handle.
We would appreciate it if you would share this Rules of Thumb blog post on your social media page so that your peers can take advantage of the information offered.
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