Graduating Soon? Tips to Help You Plan for Your Financial Future Now!

Misra.Aishwarya@dol.gov — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 18:43:52 +0000

Are you a college senior? Starting your first job soon? This is an exciting time in your life and a good time to start planning for your financial future. During this America Saves Week, learn about some of the basic financial responsibilities you’ll have and tips to help you handle them successfully/plan for them.

To help you get started, here are some tips so you’re ready to act when you begin that new job:

Manage your debt, including student loans –Many college graduates start their careers with student loans. Learn now about the student loan repayment process and what you need to do. The Department of Education has information to help you.
Create and follow a budget – There’s one simple trick for saving for any goal: spend less than you earn. While that may not be easy when you’ve just started your job, you can start by making a budget, or spending plan. It will help you see where your money goes and where money can be saved. Create one on your own or use our interactive “Cash Flow Spending Plan” worksheet to help you with the process.
Take advantage of employee benefits at your new job – Your new employer may offer health insurance, a retirement savings plan, or other employee benefits. Be sure to read the information you receive and consider your benefits choices wisely. If your job offers a retirement plan like a 401(k) or 403(b), join as soon as you can. Employment-based retirement plans are one of the most effective ways to save for your retirement and starting early helps you get time on your side. Find out how the plan works and what decisions you’ll have to make.
Manage your credit and understand your credit scores – Having good credit can help you achieve your financial goals – but misuse of credit or credit cards can make this tough, so learn how to avoid that now. Get your free credit reports and review them regularly – it's important to understand the information that’s included and get any errors corrected. Check out the Federal Trade Commission for information on credit and how credit scores impact your financial plans.
Build an emergency savings fund – Life has a way of throwing unexpected financial roadblocks, detours and potholes in our path. These can derail your efforts toward your financial goals. One strategy is to build an emergency savings fund so you don’t have to dip into other savings and are ready to handle emergencies when they happen. Putting money aside for this can be tough if income is tight, but every extra dollar helps. You can learn more about building an emergency fund from America Saves.
Save for your financial goals – When you identify your financial goals, consider what you need to make them happen. This includes how much you need to save and how long that might take. Be sure to make saving for retirement one of these goals! The more years you have to retirement, the less you have to save every month. Learn more about saving for retirement. If you need help figuring out how much you should be saving for this goal, check out our interactive “Retirement Saving” worksheet.

¿Te gradúas pronto? Aquí tienes consejos para que planees ya tu futuro financiero

Por: Lisa M. Gomez • February 28, 2023

¿Estás en el último año de la universidad? ¿Empezarás pronto tu primer trabajo? Este es un periodo realmente emocionante en tu vida y es un buen momento para comenzar a planificar tu futuro financiero. Durante esta Semana América Ahorra, aprende algunas de las responsabilidades financieras básicas que tendrás y lee estos consejos para ayudarte a manejarlas y planificarlas con éxito.

Para ayudarte, aquí van algunas recomendaciones para que estés preparado:

Administra tu deuda, incluidos créditos estudiantiles - Muchos graduados universitarios comienzan sus carreras con préstamos estudiantiles. Conoce el proceso de pago de estos préstamos y lo que debes hacer. El Departamento de Educación tiene información para ayudarte.
Prepara y ajústate a un presupuesto - Hay un sencillo truco para ahorrar para cualquier objetivo: gasta menos de lo que ganas. Si bien eso puede no ser tan fácil cuando acabas de comenzar tu trabajo, sí que puedes hacer un presupuesto o plan de gastos. Esto te ayudará a ver a dónde va tu dinero y dónde se puede ahorrar. Prepara un presupuesto por tu cuenta o usa nuestro modelo interactivo "Plan de gastos " para ayudarte con el proceso.
Aprovecha los beneficios de empleados en tu nuevo trabajo - Tu nuevo empleador podría ofrecerte seguro médico, un plan de ahorro para la jubilación u otros beneficios para empleados. Asegúrate leer la información que recibes y piensa bien tus opciones. Si tu trabajo ofrece un plan de jubilación tipo 401(k) o 403(b), inscríbete lo antes posible. Los planes de jubilación que ofrecen los empleos son una de las mejores formas de ahorrar para tu jubilación, y comenzar pronto te ayuda a tener tiempo a tu favor. Descubre cómo funcionan y qué decisiones tendrás que tomar.
Administra tu crédito y conoce tus puntajes crediticios - Tener buen crédito puede ayudarte a lograr tus objetivos financieros, pero el mal uso del crédito o de las tarjetas de crédito puede dificultarlo, así que aprende ya cómo evitar problemas. Solicita tus reportes crediticios gratuitos y revísalos regularmente. Es importante entender la información que se incluye y corregir cualquier error. Consulta en la Comisión Federal de Comercio la información sobre créditos y cómo los puntajes afectan tus planes financieros.
Establece un fondo de ahorro para emergencias - La vida tiene por costumbre lanzarnos en nuestro camino obstáculos, desvíos y baches financieros inesperados. Estos eventos pueden descarrilar tus esfuerzos hacia el logro de tus metas financieras. Una estrategia es establecer un fondo de ahorros para emergencias para que así no tengas que recurrir a otros ahorros y estés listo para manejar estas situaciones inesperadas cuando lleguen. Reservar dinero para esto podría ser difícil si los ingresos son escasos, pero ten presente que cada dólar ayuda. Puedes obtener más información de America Saves sobre la creación de un fondo para emergencias.
Ahorra para tus metas financieras - Cuando identifiques tus metas financieras, considera lo que necesitas para hacerlas realidad. Esto incluye cuánto necesitas ahorrar y cuánto tiempo puede llevar. ¡Asegúrate que el ahorro para la jubilación sea una de estas metas! Cuantos más años tengas para jubilarte, menos tendrás que ahorrar cada mes. Consigue más información sobre ahorrar para la jubilación. Si necesitas ayuda para determinar cuánto deberías ahorrar para alcanzar este objetivo, consulta nuestra hoja de trabajo “Ahorro para la Jubilación”.

Misra.Aishwary… Tue, 02/28/2023 - 13:43

Lisa M. Gomez

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Start Building Your Financial Resilience Today

Burke.Alison.E@dol.gov — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 19:28:51 +0000

Start Building Your Financial Resilience Today

America Saves Week is February 21 through 25. This week — and every week! — is a great time to start building financial resilience.

What is financial resilience, and how do you accomplish it? In short, financial resilience is the ability to withstand a financial event that impacts your income or assets, big or small. These types of events are often unexpected and can include everything from your car breaking down, to losing your job or experiencing a medical emergency. And though these are common occurrences, many people are unable to handle them financially: More than half of Americans have less than three months’ worth of expenses covered in an emergency fund, and 25% have no emergency savings at all.

It may seem hard to prepare financially for the unexpected, but we’re here to help: Join our webcast on building financial resilience on February 23, 2022, at 2 pm ET. We will be joined by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and America Saves. Register here.

We also have resources that can walk you through the process. Below are simple steps you can take to help make sure you have a financial buffer ready for whatever life throws your way — and it can be easier than you might think:

Build an emergency fund for unexpected expenses — If you’re able, make sure you have enough saved to cover 3-6 months of living expenses
Increase your contribution to your retirement fund — Increase your monthly retirement contributions so that you have enough to cover unexpected expenses in retirement. And if you’re not already saving for retirement, start now!
Set a budget — This is a guide for how you expect to spend your money. Tracking your expenses can help you find ways to increase your ability to save and be prepared for unexpected expenses.
Reduce debt — Organize your debt so that you can plan how you will pay down each debt and track your progress. Money that goes to pay interest, late fees, and old bills could be saved and invested to earn more for retirement and ad to add to your emergency fund.

If you’re not able to attend the live webcast, it will be recorded and available online soon. You can also check out our tools to help you take steps to save and prepare for a secure retirement – they’re available both online and in our paper publication, and also available in Spanish.

For more information or to ask a question, please visit our website. You can also contact a benefits advisor with your questions by visiting askebsa.dol.gov or calling 1-866-444-3272.

This America Saves Week - no matter what your goals are, take action to build your financial resilience for more security now and in the future.

Ali Khawar is the acting assistant secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Burke.Alison.E… Fri, 02/18/2022 - 14:28

Ali Khawar

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