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WalletHub Analyst on 2018's Financial Resolutions

Countless Americans are working on New Year’s resolutions, but one group of financial analysts has put together a list of resolutions they say we all need.

An estimated 45 percent of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions each January. With money being the top stressor for most, many will of those pledges will involve finances. Analysts at the personal finance website WalletHub have announced their list of 10 Financial Resolutions for 2018. Jill Gonzalez says you can knock off the first one almost immediately.

“Sign up for credit monitoring, a lot of these website that do this now are free, they’re proactive,” according to Gonzalez. “You get a text, an email, when anything looks awry on your report, and that’s important. 2017 was a huge year for data breaches once again, especially with Equifax.

Gonzalez says other items on the list are a bit more challenging and will take more effort.

“The one thing is a little bit harder to do, but obviously important, is repaying your credit card debt. Now the average household has about $8,600 in credit card debt. That’s the highest it’s been since right before the recession. A good plan is to pay off 20% of what you owe over the course of 2018. So for most of households that’s around $1,700 dollars.”

She also suggests, paying bills as soon as you get paid and saving at least one month’s pay for an emergency fund. The goal is to have an entire year’s take home pay saved.  Gonzalez says just checking one or two items of the list will make a difference.

To see the complete list:

https://wallethub.com/blog/financial-new-years-resolutions/9202/

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