One Traditional and Two Out-of-the-Box Financial Management Tips

It's easy to get wrapped up in the hottest new stock pick, and it's similarly just as easy to not think about financial matters at all. Today, I am going to give you one “money thing” to consider with your financial advisor and two “not money things” you might have overlooked that could drastically impact you financially.

First, the Fed has started to cut interest rates. Short-term investors and cash-heavy investors have been rewarded over the last several years with high “cash” yields. It has been easy to pick up 5 percent or more in what is now referred to as the “T-bill and chill.” While this approach has worked well, it’s likely changing. As the yield curve changes, make sure you visit with your financial advisor about opportunities to capture these higher yields for a longer amount of time. This will introduce duration-risk to your portfolio, but I have found that if it is properly paired with your financial plan, it can be a valid opportunity to lock in a meaningful yield for a longer amount of time. 

My second tip concerns password management. Password managers are services that keep and store complex passwords, allowing you to have more sophisticated (secure) passwords across various websites. It is bad digital hygiene to utilize either simplistic passwords or the same password across multiple websites. Password managers help by simplifying your digital life into only needing to remember one password: the password to the service. Keeping yourself secure digitally can go a long way toward living a lower-stress and financially healthy life. 

Lastly, identity theft is on the rise, and companies are more frequently being hacked. If you are not a heavy credit user (most of us aren’t) and if you aren’t taking out new loans regularly (most of us don’t), consider freezing your credit to protect yourself. This can keep other parties from obtaining credit or starting new loans in your name. This will come with the downside of minor inconvenience to you. Aside from about thirty minutes of potential frustration, there is little downside to freezing credit. If you want to use credit, you will need to unfreeze it, a relatively quick process. Again, this is for folks not utilizing new credit regularly. 

I am aware that dealing with safeguards, guardrails, or money-related issues is sometimes amongst life’s least emotionally enjoyable things. However, I am an advocate of addressing what can be done ahead of time with minor inconvenience if it allows more peace of mind and mitigates potentially significant and impactful negative events. 

Disclosure: The information presented is for educational purposes only and should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed.  Discussions and answers to questions do not involve rendering personalized investment advice but are limited to disseminating general information.  A professional advisor should be consulted before implementing any of the options presented.

Forward-looking statements,” such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “continue,” or “believe,” or the negatives thereof should not be relied upon as a guarantee, assurance or a representation as to the future. Such statements are a belief based on trends, however due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or actual performance may differ.

Encompass More Asset Management LLC is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and only transacts business in states where it is properly registered, or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements.