January is a great time to get a head start on all things Finances. Clean fresh start. Clean budget for many things - my personal favorite clean vacation planning. This start only comes once a year because after that - it's all about catching up.
Here are the three things that are often forgotten because there is no immediate deadline looming to get them done in January.
Fund your IRA - yes, you can do it till April 2020. But you can also do it now and let it grow longer. If liquidity is a concern, set up an automatic transfer. The limit for 2019 is $6,000.
Check your Social Security Account - Don't have one? Set one up. www.ssa.gov. Why set one up? It allows you to receive personalized estimates of your future benefits based on your real earnings, review your earnings history and above all its free to set up.
Get your credit card report:
Each of the 3 agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) offer free reports once a year. You can get one now and plan out the other 2 over the course of the year.
Check report of your minor children. Why? A credit report is a record of debt and payment history. which is why it is unlikely that a child would have a bad report. Which makes a child's information vulnerable to identity theft.