Happy 2016 and a few financial resolutions

new years 2016 with champagne and fireworks

To all readers of the Financial Independence Hub, we wish a very happy — and Findependent! –2016. If you count the last few month of 2014 when the Hub launched, then 2016 will be the third calendar year for the Hub and we look forward to many more.

A reminder that as of today, you can contribute a further $5,500 to your Tax-free Savings Account or TFSA. That’s the first thing they remind you of at RBC Direct Investing, one of the main two financial institutions our family uses.

I have to admit that personally I’ve made no formal list of New Year’s Resolutions, although I have declared that I’d like to take my stress levels down a tad, perhaps by using the word “No” a little more often. We’ll see.

In the meantime, for a good formal list of financial New Year’s Resolutions, the Financial Post’s Angela Hickman recently published a good starting point. Click on Five financial resolutions for 2016, and how to (really) make them happen.

Below, I’ve taken the liberty of summarizing the 5 points. Again, click the red link above for the full piece.

1.) I resolve to figure out my finances

2. I resolve to stick to a budget

3. ) I resolve to get out of debt

4.) I resolve to save more

5.) I resolve to stop wasting money

These are all valid suggestions and especially useful for younger folks for whom financial independence is still a faraway goal.

7 eternal truths can also become New Year’s Resolutions

For more ideas, see my series of 7 “Eternal Truths of Personal Finance” that ran in the FP the past summer. This link will take you to all 7 of them. Again, below I’ve summarized the 7 headline points; in a few cases, I’ve gone with my original headline rather than the one that appeared in the paper. These could all be the basis of financial new year’s resolutions too.

1.) Live below your means

2.) Put your savings on autopilot

3.) Pay your debt first

4.) Buy a home and pay off the mortgage as soon as possible

5.) Be an owner, not a loaner

6.) Never say no to free money from your employer

7.) Neve say no to free money from the government

These 7 truths will also be the basis of a chapter in the forthcoming book I’m writing with Michael Drak: Victory Lap Retirement. Hopefully it should be out by the summer.

 

 

 

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