Here are some wise money moves for you to make:
- Tithe and donate money to others. God will provide for your needs.
- Make sure you get a will and a living revocable trust done before the year is out.
- Make sure you get a good term-life insurance policy. If you have universal, whole life, or anything other than term life insurance, cancel them after you get your term-life insurance.
- Fully-fund or max out your IRA or ROTH IRA. If you don’t have one, then open an IRA or a Roth IRA now for 2014 and max it out. Then in 2015, max it out again.
- Sell any investments in which you have losses, so you can write them off on your tax returns.
- Make sure that your mutual funds expense ratios are more than 1%
- Adjust tax exemptions to ensure that you are not going to get a large refund next year. Otherwise, you are giving the government an interest-free loan. You should be earning the interest on the money or paying down debt with that money.
- Protect yourself from identity theft. Get identity theft protection from either All Clear ID or Life Lock. You can also freeze credit reports to
- November 15, 2014 start the health care insurance open season. Make sure you get health care insurance for yourself and your family.
- Make sure that your designated beneficiaries are up to date on your policies.
- Look at your monthly living expenses for this past year. Make sure your income is going to cover them each month. Use a monthly money binder (budget) to track your income and expenses,
- Use cash to pay for your transportation, food, entertainment, clothes & gifts, allowances, co-pays for medical & dental expenses, and bank fees.