Hey, guys.
It's Chelsea from The Financial Diet.
And this week's video is sponsored
by Haven Life Insurance Agency.
And this week, we're going to be talking about one
of my favorite subjects-- and by favorite subjects,
I mean at least favorite subjects--
and that is the things that we put off for months or even
sometimes years at a time because they kind of fill us
with anxiety or we don't know how to do them or they feel
stressful or they'll take a ton of time,
only often to end up doing these things
and realizing they take us a couple of minutes
and have provided us an enormous amount of relief.
At any given time in my life I have
seven of these different things that I'm juggling, putting off
for different reasons, trying not to think about all that.
And frankly, for me, one of the worst parts
about having generalized anxiety disorder,
which normally, for me, is rather livable, aside
from the insomnia stuff, is my uncanny ability
to take something that should be small and build it up
to something absolutely enormous in my mind.
And again, especially when it comes to financial stuff
where acting early and being proactive
can save you a ton of money, it has cost me literally thousands
of dollars in the past.
But you don't have to have clinical anxiety
to experience the feeling of just putting something off only
to realize it wasn't that big bad scary thing.
So today I wanted to talk about the things in your life
that you've probably been putting off
but which you can actually complete today
by the end of this day in 20 minutes or less.
So without further ado, here are eight
of those things you've been putting off that you
can do in 20 minutes or less.
Number one is setting up a retirement account.
Unfortunately, and maybe it's no surprise,
but Americans are pretty behind when
it comes to retirement savings, which is especially sad when
you consider that the earlier you start,
the more of an advantage you have
because of that wonderful thing called
compounding interest, as well as the investment horizon,
or the length of time you have to let that investment grow.
As the American workforce turns away from pension plans,
the onus is increasingly on workers
to secure their own retirements.
The fact is, though, relatively few succeed.
According to TheStreet.com in 2019,
a typical couple in the 56 to 61 age bracket
without any retirement accounts had just $17,000 in savings.
For many of us, that's not enough to live for a year let
alone an entire retirement.
Now let me be clear that I'm not here to shame people
who simply don't have the resources to be putting away
for retirement.
That's a reality for many Americans.
And if that's your case, then you
should not feel further guilt about not being on-track
with your retirement savings.
But speaking specifically to the people
who could be putting a little bit away every month
toward their retirement accounts but just
haven't been doing it because they don't understand
it or it stresses them out or they feel like it's like they'd
rather spend the money on other things, which I do understand
on a human level, but come on, grow up, those people--
and I used to be one of them-- need
to really confront exactly what they're doing
and how they're shooting themselves in the foot.
For example, if you currently have access to a 401(k) plan
through your employer, you should be utilizing it,
particularly if there's an employer match,
and you can ask someone in your HR department
to walk you through the options.
And if you don't have a retirement account
through your employer, you can set up one as an individual.
There are several options, like a traditional or Roth IRA
or an individual 401(k), and we'll
link you to some of the options in the description.
And it's especially important to remember
that if you're doing this on your own,
just because you're putting your money in an IRA
does not mean it's automatically invested.
The account holds your investments,
but depending on how it's set up,
it may or may not be doing the investing for you.
We'll link you to a great primer from our friend Amanda Holden
right here on TFD's channel that goes
through the different options you
have for making sure that your investments are actually
being invested.
And if you're a total newbie to this, which likely you
are if you're avoiding the idea of setting up a retirement
account, you might want to consider something
like a robo-advisor.
They automate the investing for you,
but be sure to do your research to make
sure you're getting the right robo-investor for you,
because some of them can charge pretty high fees.
Again, there are a lot of ways to get
into retirement saving and specifically investing
for retirement.
And although it's one of those things that
feels kind of boring or annoying, especially with all
of the automated options out there like robo-advising,
it is easier than ever to get started saving for retirement
in literally a matter of minutes and with literally
a few dollars.
The most difficult part with many of these things
is just taking that first initial step.
After, you can easily automate your contributions
or simply check it every so often and throw a few more
dollars in there.
You can even work with apps which
will roll over spare change into investment accounts.
But just taking those first few minutes to set it up
can be half the battle.
Number two is getting term life insurance.
One of the most important decisions
that you'll make in your financial life
is getting life insurance.
Should something happen to you before your time,
a term life insurance policy payout
can help provide your loved one, your spouse,
your dependents with the money that they'll
need to keep paying things like mortgages and day-to-day living
costs.
It is a hugely important part of taking care of your loved ones.
And if you or your partner were to pass away unexpectedly,
that means that you will not be leaving your partner
with a huge financial burden on top of the emotional one.
And with how efficient it can be to apply for term life
insurance coverage, there is literally no reason
to keep putting it off.
Haven Life is an innovative startup backed and wholly owned
by Mass Mutual that has modernized
the process of buying dependable term life insurance.
Their easy online application process
can give you a coverage decision in as little as 20 minutes.
Plus, their rates are super affordable.
A 30-year 500,000 Haven term life policy
issued by Mass Mutual for a healthy 30-year-old woman
is only about $27 a month.
Click the link in our description
to get your term life insurance quote and apply online.
Getting life insurance is a responsible loving decision,
and the earlier in life you get it, the more affordable
it will be.
Number three is switching to a bank with lower fees.
People on average stick with the same checking
account for about 14 years.
And while there can be benefits to continued loyalty, when
it comes to your money and especially your savings,
you should constantly be thinking
about how you can put that money better to work.
And if you're anything like me, you probably
picked your original bank because of its proximity
to where you were living at the time, which
may years later have zero relevance
to your day-to-day life.
And when it comes to fees, there are tons to watch out for.
Things like overdraft protection fees, which are typically
around $35 for overdrawing your account;
monthly maintenance fees, which certain accounts will charge
you simply for keeping your money in them unless you
meet certain criteria, like a large minimum balance--
yes, it's often more expensive to have
less money in your account; paper statement fees--
some banks will charge you around $2 to $3
for getting a paper statement.
Account closure fees-- some banks will charge around $25
if you close your account soon after opening it,
typically within a three or six-month window;
inactivity fees--
if you don't have any activity in your account for one or two
years, you may get hit with a $50 fee or more;
card replacement fees--
like if you lose your debit card,
you may pay anywhere from $7 to $25 or more to get a new one;
and returned item fees, which typically
get charged if you don't have enough money in your account
to cover a check you wrote, usually around $35.
It's generally difficult to find a bank account that
doesn't charge any fees whatsoever,
but they can vary wildly from bank to bank.
So making sure that you're not getting
stuck with a bunch of unnecessary ones
can be a huge part in saving those little costs here
and there which can easily add up.
Number four, setting recurring dentist appointments.
That's right, guys.
We're talking about the dentist now.
According to a study from the American Dental Association,
42% of Americans said they don't go to the dentist
as often as they would like to.
And one visit to the dentist every year
should be considered the absolute minimum,
while every six months is generally preferable.
And I'm one of those people, who despite having insurance that
covered my regular dental visits,
put off going to the dentist for three years.
Yikes.
Listen, this is a circle of trust here, I'm being honest.
But if your insurance covers dental,
there is no reason to not be setting up a recurring
appointment every six months, which, proudly, now I do.
And yes, that first trip back to the dentist
was a little fraught and she was like, honey, those teeth
I've seen better days.
And I was like, I know, but don't shame me
because that's just going to further reinforce
the cycle of anxiety and make sure I never come again.
Also funny anecdote here, I got a cavity--
it was my first cavity I'd ever gotten, I was very upset,
I was like 30--
I guess I was 30 years old and I was
like, I made it to 30 without getting a cavity
and got a cavity, but I deserved it.
Anyway, one of them was pretty deep,
and so I got a double shot of novocaine in my cheek right
here.
And I had gotten a single shot of novocaine before
and it wasn't really that impactful on me.
Like I don't know, I just kind of absorbed it well,
and it didn't really affect my ability to use my mouth.
So I was like, oh, no problem.
Like a double shot's fine, and I had a dinner out with people
that night like an hour after my dental appointment.
So she puts the filling in, I go to the bathroom
to like wipe up my face and everything
and get ready to go out.
My like entire half of my face was completely drooping open
and I had no control over it, but I couldn't
cancel on this dinner, so I go to the dinner,
I literally was trying to take a sip of water
and it would just run out of the side of my mouth.
I bit my cheek like five times trying
to take like two bites of food.
It was a nightmare.
But suffice it to say, I could have avoided all of that--
all of it-- if I had been more diligent about going
to the dentist upfront.
But what about if you don't have insurance
to cover dental appointments?
We know it can be pricey to go to those regular appointments,
so check out your state's dental association
to check for low-cost options.
Or look at dental schools in your area
where you can typically get much more affordable care
from dental students.
And don't worry, they are always supervised a licensed dentist
or dental hygienist.
You can find information on both of these options
at the American Dental Association's website
which we'll you to below.
And as a hot tip, if you are someone
who is really in the business of putting off
those pesky dental, medical, et cetera appointments
and want to hold yourself accountable,
either find an accountability buddy
with whom you can hold each other to your promises
to yourself to go to those appointments, or--
and you can also do this in tandem with the buddy--
pick out a fun thing to do for yourself, a little gift
to buy for yourself or a special dinner
to eat, or just kind of like a treat yourself moment at home
that you only get to do when you've made
and kept the appointment.
It's totally fine to incentivize yourself like a 10-year-old.
Number five is updating your resume.
If our current situation has taught us anything,
it's that job security to a large extent
is a bit of an illusion.
We can never really predict what's
going to happen with our economy or with our particular
industry, and even though we may give so much to our companies,
we can never ensure that that loyalty will be returned to us.
Sorry to be a bummer.
But this is why it is so crucial to keep your resume always up
to date.
And remember that when it comes down
to it, if your company decides that it can't afford
to employ you anymore, it will have
no problem drawing a line under your name
and striking your employment.
So there is absolutely no shame in always
being prepared with an up-to-date personal website,
resume, profiles on places like LinkedIn, et cetera.
When it comes to corporate America,
those hoes aren't loyal to you, you
don't need to be loyal to those hoes.
And the more up to date everything
is, the more you will be ready to go if and when
you ever get bad news about your current employment.
And remember that your resume does not
need to be overly wordy.
According to Career Builder, 40% of hiring managers
spend less than one minute reviewing a resume and 25%
spend less than 30 seconds.
So if part of the reason you were avoiding
updating your resume or your professional website
was because you felt like it would be a huge investment
of your time, it's not.
You just need to make sure a few key things are updated
and this can take a few minutes.
Any good resume should highlight specific numbers,
avoid trite or overused buzz words,
and only list relevant job experiences
for the types of positions you're applying for,
and we'll link you to a list of common resume mistakes
to avoid.
Taking a few minutes to update every couple of months
could be the difference between getting
noticed by a potential employer or being ready if something
were to happen to your current job
and feeling totally unprepared.
Number six is starting a sustainable exercise routine.
Sadly, but again, not surprisingly,
not exercising at all is an extremely common default
in America.
According to Harvard Medical School,
we have to eat, so following nutritional advice is
a matter of making choices, like swap
out saturated fats for healthy oils,
or eat whole grains instead of refined carbohydrates.
But in this day and age, many-- perhaps most-- people
don't need to be physically active
unless they choose to be.
And most evidence suggests that the choice
of the kind of activity is far less important
than whether to be active at all.
About half of adult Americans don't
meet one of the most oft-cited guidelines which
calls for at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity,
such as a fast walking pace, most days of the week.
And you can accumulate that total
in bouts of 10 to 15 minutes.
About a quarter of American adults
say they devote none of their free time to active pursuits.
So what is one of the easiest ways
to ensure that you are making some kind of exercise--
and again, important to remember that it doesn't really
matter with what you start-- a part of your life?
Commit to only doing a very, very small amount of it
every day.
In fact, when using something like an activity or habit
tracker or even just a regular pen and paper journal,
you can make the definition for "got some exercise in today" as
easy to meet as you want.
And just meeting it and getting that consistent little tiny bit
of activity in every day is better than feeling like,
you might as well not even try if you're not going
to become an athletic person.
For example, you can say a quick walk
around the block, 10 minutes of exercises
on a yoga mat in your living room,
doing really active chores around your house,
even going grocery shopping.
All of these things can be your activity for the day
where you get the gold star and you
get to look back and say, hey, I exercised five days in a row,
it wasn't so hard.
And not only will that consistency and your ability
to follow through give you a lot more confidence
to keep going in the future, becoming more
active is a snowball effect.
You get more energy from being more active,
you sleep better from exerting more energy during the day,
and therefore, each new day it becomes easier
to get a little more exercise.
But starting as small and as easy as you possibly can
ensures that you will get that ball rolling.
Number seven is making a will.
According to a study from Merrill Lynch, nearly half
of Americans over the age of 55 still don't have a will.
And if you're younger than that, you may be thinking, well,
why would I need one?
But not to be morbid here, but there is always a chance
that something could happen to you prematurely,
and if you haven't established what
you want to happen should anything happen to you,
a lot of that will be left up to a judge or state officials.
And here are several reasons why you should definitely
have a will.
You can be clear about who gets your assets.
You can decide who gets what and how much.
You can keep your assets out of the hands of people
you don't want to have them, like an estranged relative.
You can identify who should care for your children.
Without a will, the courts will decide.
Your heirs will have a faster and easier time getting access
to your assets.
You can plan to save your estate money on taxes.
You can also give gifts and charitable donations,
which can help offset the estate tax.
As an added bonus, eligible Haven Life customers
can create a legal will free of charge through Haven Life Plus.
Plus is a writer--
an insurance word for benefit--
included with your term life insurance
that gives you access to no-cost services that most of us need.
Plus, you can get a little fun with your will.
Talk about what kind of like sweet, sweet kickass
funeral you want.
Talk about like what outfit you want
to be wearing if you're being buried or viewed.
Talk about like colors people aren't allowed to wear.
Go crazy.
I love a theme party.
It's like your last good theme party.
Lastly and most importantly for people
who rent instead of own, stop putting off renters insurance.
First of all, it is seriously super affordable with most
plans being around $15 a month.
But it also protects you against a lot of stuff.
Like losses to your personal property,
including clothes, jewelry, luggage, computers, furniture,
and electronics.
It covers everything from theft and vandalism
to damage from weather or appliance malfunctions.
Additionally, most renters insurance plans
offer liability insurance, which could cover you
if something happens to someone in your apartment.
You're not liable for it.
Plus, some landlords actually require
you to have renters insurance, like mine,
so if you don't have it, you might actually
be in breach of your lease which could set you up
for tons of problems.
Lastly, many renters insurance companies
allow you to apply quickly and easily
online in a matter of minutes.
So between that and how inexpensive it is
and how much it covers you, there's really no reason
not to.
Remember that when it comes to some of these big scary things,
most of the battle is just working up the courage
to actually click a few buttons or pick up the phone and do it.
The rest is kind of easy.
And if one of the things that you've been putting off
is getting life insurance, which you should definitely have,
I highly recommend you check out Haven Life
at the link in our description.
As always, guys, thank you for watching,
and don't forget to hit the Subscribe button to come back
every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
for new and awesome videos.
Goodbye!