Discover ways to strengthen your money management skills and reach your financial goals.

The new year brings a lot of attention to physical fitness but how is your financial fitness? For most of us there’s room for improvement. Let’s take a quick look at what financial fitness is about and how you can better manage your money.

What it means to be financially fit

Financial fitness doesn’t refer to how much money you have or earn. Instead it’s a measurement of how well you understand and manage your finances.

The foundation of financial fitness is knowing how much money you have coming in, how much goes out and for what. In a word: budgeting.

Once you have a budget in place you can advance your financial fitness and work on one or more of these goals:

• Savings for a specific purpose, like a car, home, vacation, or appliance
• Setting aside a minimum of six months of expenses in an emergency savings account
• Saving for retirement
• Paying off debt

How to become financially fit

Whatever your motivation, improving financial fitness starts with a willingness to learn. Here at Consumers, one of our favorite things to do is help members by providing smart money information, education and advice. Explore the Your Money. Your Life. page to access all our online money management resources—including articles, videos and podcasts.

Another great way to boost financial fitness is to work with a financial counselor. As a Consumers member, you have free access to GreenPath Financial Management Counseling and Credit Smart to help you take control of your finances. You can get personalized guidance on budgeting, improving your credit score, debt repayment and avoiding bankruptcy or repossession.

Another Consumers member benefit is access to financial advisors. Talk to them when you’d like help with retirement savings or retirement lifestyle strategies.

It’s never too early to develop financial fitness. To help the kids in your life learn about money and create savings habits, check out our Wimee Kids’ Savings Club. Kids can get started with a $5 deposit and earn prizes for savings. Plus, Money Minutes videos with Wimee help teach kids money basics.

 

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