Welcome to 2022 Financial Literacy Month.
Each April, we are encouraged to focus on achieving financial literacy. However, in my opinion, financial literacy is a year-round effort. Especially in today’s economic environment of inflation where gas price hikes, product shortages and rising food prices make a certain degree of financial awareness more important than ever.
As a consumer, a saver, and an investor, you need to regularly maintain a knowledge base of how to purchase goods and services in an economical manner. Find ways to maintain your personal savings goals and continue monitoring your investments, be they in workplace retirement savings plans or at other institutions, to ensure your investment strategies are realized.
Being a financially aware citizen is simply a way of life. Do not go through your day-to-day activities as if you are on autopilot. Instead, proactively seek out more competitive service providers for your household needs, from insurance carriers and banks to credit card companies, technology providers and others. Often, you can obtain significant savings as a new customer with these businesses. So, don’t just ‘check the box’ and renew quietly.
Further, what about those monthly subscriptions that you currently pay for? Are you still using all of those streaming services? Consider writing down all the ‘unseen’ monthly or yearly subscriptions that you currently maintain. Then, determine which services truly provide value to you and which ones could be set aside. You might be amazed at the savings you can generate.
The bottom line is, we all work hard for our money, and we need to make sure that, in turn, our money works hard for us.
That’s my ‘two cents’ (prior to inflation). Here’s hoping you have a successful Financial Literacy Month YEAR.
By Rick David, CPA, member of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants Financial Literacy Task Force.