How to Fix Your Personal Finances for 2023

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WSJ Your Money Briefing 10 min 3 speakers 4 chapters transcribed 2 months ago
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ReliaQuest Advertiser 0:00
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J.R. Whalen 0:30
Here's your money briefing for Friday, December 23rd. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. For a lot of people, it's been a rough year for personal finances. Inflation continues to eat away at your paycheck. The interest you're making on your savings or on your checking account is still close to zero. And the unpredictable stock market has made your 401k, well, a lot of people don't even have the stomach to even look at their 401k.
Imani Moise 0:58
the reality is that whatever budget or rough budget that you had in your head is probably out of date. So you need to update your understanding of what things cost and how much you want to save.
J.R. Whalen 1:08
On today's show, we'll talk to Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Amani Moiz about doing a top-to-bottom review of your finances and putting yourself in a better position in 2023. That's after the break.
ReliaQuest Advertiser 1:20
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Why should you do a year-end financial checkup before 2023?

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J.R. Whalen 1:58
Inflation may have ticked down a few notches in recent months, but it's still putting the squeeze on a lot of people's finances. And that makes keeping track of your accounts and your investment choices all the more important. The WSJ's personal finance team has turned the spotlight on strengthening your savings, checking and retirement portfolios. And reporter Imani Moise is with us to talk about some of what they learned. Imani, thank you for being with us.
Imani Moise 2:20
Thanks for having me.
J.R. Whalen 2:21
So, you know, Amani, we often hear people talking about making New Year's resolutions around this time of the year to make more money, save more money. It always involves money. But I guess this is really a good time of year to go in and, you know, crunch the numbers.
Imani Moise 2:34
Yes.

How has inflation and low savings rates affected everyday budgets in 2022?

Imani Moise 2:35
Staying on top of your finances is just good financial hygiene. However, it's something that is easy to fall by the wayside. So during this holiday period when maybe work is slower and you have more time to yourself, Definitely use this time to take stock of all things financial before you get caught up in the busyness of the new year. I think it's especially important to do this year after what we've seen with inflation really hurting people's budget. And the reality is that whatever budget or rough budget that you had in your head is probably out of date. So you need to update your understanding of what things cost and how much you want to save.
J.R. Whalen 3:12
All right, so let's tackle some of those numbers. Let's start with people's savings. Even with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates several times this year, the rates people get on their savings or even their checking account have been slow to rise. And in a lot of cases, the rates are still near zero. How can people sort of squeeze more money out of those interest rates and into their account?
Imani Moise 3:32
The easiest thing to do is definitely to look around for potentially an online savings bank. A lot of the online accounts offer higher interest rates because if it's an online-only bank, the bank can save on overhead and transfer those savings on to the saver. The easiest thing to do is really just do an internet search for savings accounts.

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