Our society is obsessed with numbers. We’re given numbered grades and GPAs all throughout school, we rely on numbers to track our weight and even our very identities are tagged with a Social Security number from the day we’re born.
We don’t blame you if you’re sick of numbers.
However, there are a few important aspects of your financial situation that you simply cannot ignore. Neglecting these figures could be catastrophic, but proactively working on them could lower your stress level, save you thousands of dollars and minimize future financial fiascos. While working on your finances may be painful now, it should be well worth your efforts in the end. So take a deep breath, and dive right into these three important numbers:
Debt Level
At the time of publication, the average U.S. citizen carries over $56,000 of debt, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock. How do you compare?
Unless you’ve scored a 0 percent interest rate on all your loans, the longer you avoid your debt, the more you’ll have to pay in the long run. If you’re sitting on a huge debt load, it’s best to address it as soon as you can.
How to improve: If you’re struggling with a large amount of debt, it’s best to formulate a game plan instead of making random payments and hoping to eventually pay down everything. There are a few popular strategies people like using. If you’re looking to save the most money, the Debt Avalanche method may be the best for you. This strategy involves paying off the balances with the highest interest rates first. On the other hand, if you simply need motivation to start paying off your debt, you may want to consider the Debt Snowball method instead. This strategy suggests paying off your smallest balances first, as you’re likely to feel good about paying a debt off and will want to continue paying the rest of your balances.
Whether you choose the Debt Avalanche method, Debt Snowball strategy or a completely different method, the main hurdle is simply getting started. Evaluate your personality and financial situation, choose what you think will work best and get started paying down that debt!
Credit Score
As far as numbers go, your credit score is probably one of the most important numbers that will ever be attached to your name. It may not seem that powerful, but as mentioned earlier, your score could actually cost or save you thousands of dollars, as it is used to determine the interest rates attached to your loans and credit cards.
How to improve: The first step to improving your credit health is knowing what factors are used to calculate your score. In many scoring models, the most important aspects include your on-time payment history, your credit card utilization rate (calculated by dividing your total credit card balances by your total credit limits) and how many derogatory marks you have on your report. Because lenders often care about those three aspects, making your payments on time and keeping your balances low are some of the best things you can do for your credit. In addition, pull your credit reports regularly, dispute any major errors that could affect your score and avoid making common mistakes like applying for too much credit or not using your cards.
Improving your credit health can take time, so don’t be discouraged if your score doesn’t go up right away. Just keep practicing good credit habits, and eventually you should reap the benefits of your hard work.
Savings Amount
A 2014 Gallup poll of over 1,000 adults found that 59 percent of American adults are worried about not having enough money for retirement, and 53 percent are worried about not being able to pay medical costs in the event of a serious illness or accident. In fact, people are more worried about retirement and emergency medical situations than not having enough money to pay off debt and not having enough money to pay for rent or a mortgage. If you lost your job today, would you be able to financially survive for a few months while you searched for a new one? Have you begun saving for retirement?
Starting to build retirement and emergency funds early in life could help ease these worries. Compound interest is a very powerful tool that can work to your advantage, and saving early could grow your money into amounts you never dreamed possible.
How to improve: In many cases, saving money is a matter of prioritization. If you automate your accounts to send money to your emergency or retirement fund before doing anything else, you won’t be as tempted to spend that money on things you don’t need. In the financial world, this is called “paying yourself first,” as you’re saving money before doing anything else with it.
If you have no money to save, evaluate where your income is going and see where you can cut back. Do you really need that daily morning coffee? Can you walk instead of driving to the local supermarket? Have you checked to see if there are any coupons for your purchases?
Alternatively, if you have some free time, why not put your talents and passions to good use and try to make some extra money? Fiverr and TaskRabbit are both great ways to make money on the side, and many consumers get paid to take surveys. The opportunities to save money are practically endless — all you need to do is go for them.
The Bottom Line: Whether you love numbers or hate them, one thing is clear: They can’t be avoided. However, by working on your financial situation now, you may be able to prevent financial catastrophes in the future.
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3 Numbers That Will Improve Your Financial Status originally appeared on usnews.com
