Are You On-Track to Meet Your Annual Financial Goals?

We have five simple steps you can take today to help you gauge your progress

 First American State Bank is committed to helping our valued customers stay on top of their annual financial goals. We offer a variety of products designed to help you earn money on deposits, buy that new home, make a desired home improvement and more. But it helps to know where you currently stand beforehand. That’s why a mid-year financial health check is a great way to stay on top of your financial goals and make necessary adjustments so that you’ll end the year right where you wanted.

Here’s a more detailed look at each step: 

1. Review Your Budget

• Evaluate Income and Expenses: Compare your current income and expenses to your yearly financial plan. You can use an online budget calculator or even a simple spreadsheet to help you visualize and streamline this process.
• Adjust Budget Categories: Modify areas where your spending and income patterns don’t align with your expectations. If you haven’t built a budget yet, what’s stopping you? First American State Bank works with an organization called Banzai and they offer an online tool that can help you create a reasonable budget.  

2. Evaluate Savings Goals

• Check Progress: Assess how close you are to meeting your savings targets for various goals such as establishing an emergency fund, saving for that special vacation or building your retirement.
• Adjust Savings Goals: Sometimes, we set goals that are more aspirational than achievable. If your savings goals are not sustainable, identify areas where you can cut back on spending. Again, our friends at Banzai have several tips on reducing food and utility bills.
• Automate Savings: If you don’t have access to it, you don’t spend it. Set up automatic transfers into your savings or retirement accounts to ensure consistent contributions. In this way, you begin to treat savings like one of your other mandatory bills. 

3. Assess Debt Management Progress

• Debt Paydown: Review your debt paydown progress. Check how much debt you’ve paid off and if it matches your goals.
• Spending Habits: Evaluate your credit card usage and any new loans. Consider if these habits are hindering your debt paydown efforts.
• Refinancing and Consolidation: Explore refinancing or consolidating debt to lower interest rates or monthly payments. First American State Bank can help you with this so be sure to ask a banker if this option is right for you on your next visit. 

4. Review Your Investment Portfolio

• Performance Evaluation: Check the performance of your investments and consider rebalancing your portfolio if needed.
• Retirement Contributions: Many employers offer matching funds for the retirement accounts they have for employees. Ensure you’re contributing enough to your retirement accounts to get a full employer match, if applicable.
• Alignment with Goals: Everyone has their own goals and tolerance levels. Make sure your investment strategy aligns with the long-term financial goals you’ve set for yourself and your personal risk tolerance. 

5. Plan and Evaluate Taxes

• Tax Withholdings: Review your tax withholdings and estimate potential tax payments, especially if you are a contract employee.
• Maximize Contributions: Look into maximizing contributions to your retirement accounts and explore other tax breaks or advantages.
• Tax Planning: Use tax planning resources to stay ahead of potential tax liabilities. 

By taking these steps, you can make informed adjustments and improvements to your financial plan. This proactive approach helps you stay organized and empowers you to make better financial decisions. Remember, maintaining financial health is an ongoing journey, and these mid-year checks are crucial milestones to ensure you remain on track. 

Https://blog.banzai.org/have-you-done-your-mid-year-financial-health-check-5-steps-to-ensure-youre-on-track/

Step 1. Review Your Budget

Step 2. Evaluate Savings Goals

Step 3. Assess Debt Management Progress

Step 4. Review Your Investment Portfolio

Step 5. Plan and Evaluate Taxes

First American State Bank has recently launched our new social media campaign! Please follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram; where we share industry  insights, updates on our services, and thought leadership in the financial sector.

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GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO. – Evan Smith-Acuna has joined First American State Bank as vice-president. In his new role, Smith-Acuna will be primarily responsible for lending.

“We are excited to have Evan join our team,” said Michelle Gruber, vice president of First American State Bank. “His banking background will ensure our customers continue to experience the first-class service they have come to expect.”

Smith-Acuna previously worked at First Bank where he began as a banking officer responsible for relationship management for lending of all kinds. He also managed First Bank’s Multicultural Banking Center for the Eastern Region. He then was promoted to vice president where he supported the build-out of the bank’s Commercial Banking Division.

Smith-Acuna graduated with a degree in business administration – finance and a minor in real estate from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He also serves as an officer with Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy and Research Organization.

Investing is a powerful financial tool that everyone should understand. The sooner you start teaching your kids the basics, the better! Help your children understand that the goal is to buy when things are inexpensive and sell when they’re worth more. Investing is often done by buying stocks (very small parts of a company). Stocks are worth more when the company is doing well and less when the company is struggling. Since you own part of the company, you may also get payments/dividends when that company earns a lot of money. As the child gets older, you can touch on more complex aspects of investing.

Track the Stock Market: Have your child pick a few brands they like such as their favorite clothing company, cereal, sports equipment, soft drink, or gaming company. Once they’ve picked two or three, go to the company websites or a general financial site and show them how to track the stocks. You can also point out news articles about the company and have them predict how that will affect their stocks. For example, if a sports drink company decides to stop producing a popular flavor, you can discuss how that may lead to a drop in their stocks. Track how the stocks change to see if your child’s guesses were right or wrong.

Start Investing: Get your child actively involved in investing by “selling” some of your shares to them. For example, if you’re planning to buy 200 shares of a particular company and you have two children, buy 202. Sell the extra shares to each child either at the price you paid or a discounted price if it’s too high. You can keep track of the children’s shares in a separate register so they can follow what happens and earn some money if the stocks do well. (Be willing to buy the shares back if they prove disappointing.)

The sooner you start teaching your kids about investing, the better! Who knows, you may be raising the next Warren Buffet or Suze Orman!