Tips for Achieving Your Financial New Year’s Resolutions in 2021

Given the way 2020 unfolded, if you’re making a financial resolution for the new year, a lot of new considerations may be coming into play – whether that’s changes in your financial situation and outlook or new spending habits and priorities. As an unprecedented year comes to an end, here are a few tips that may be helpful if you’re sitting down to map out 2021.

• 1. Set Short- and Long-term Goals. Instead of making the sweeping promise that you will generally “be better with money” moving forward, break down what you hope to achieve in a set of specific goals, spanning from short-term to long-term. Maybe it’s to pay off student loans in the next three years, buy a home within ten years and make sure you have enough saved for retirement in the long-term. Especially when you don’t know what the future might hold, this could help you maintain a sense of control. Also, you can more easily chart your progress, reassess and course correct as needed.
  
• 2. Keep Up with Good Habits. Many Americans were fortunate enough to be able to improve their finances in 2020 — putting more aside toward savings or taking advantage of opportunities like mortgage refinancing. Of course, not everyone is in a position to save more, but if you can, continue to keep your foot on the gas, whether that’s shoring up savings or staying on the lookout for opportunities, like refinancing, that may be unique to the current times.
  
• 3. Clean Out Your Wallet. Do you have credit cards floating around in your wallet or desk drawer that haven’t been used for years? Do you have a travel-centric credit card but rarely take trips? It might be a good time to reassess what you’re carrying, whether it fits with your spending habits and how you can simplify. One option if you don’t want to juggle multiple cards is the Bank of America^® Cash Rewards credit card, which allows you to earn 3% cash back on purchases in a category of your choice — including online shopping, gas, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings — and you have the ability to change that category each month. If you expect your spending to change next year (perhaps you are doing a lot of online shopping now but would like to start dining out and traveling more when you can), this card can adapt with you as your priorities change.