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business Thursday 7 april 2022
Kimberly Palmer: Spring-clean finances with some automation

By KIMBERLY PALMER of checking to see if it went
NerdWallet through," she says. Then she
Automating financial tasks realized she had a much
sounds like the perfect way larger bank balance than
to check mundane items she expected. She discov-
like saving and paying bills ered her rent had stopped
off your to-do list with mini- processing — a problem
mal effort. But there's a po- she had to scramble to fix.
tential downside to giving Automating a bill also
up manual control. doesn't mean that you
When you automate bills, should stop shopping
you may be less likely to around for better options.
review them and notice Franco-Cicero, who is also
errors, or to catch yourself a wealth advisor at Tobias
overspending. When you Financial Advisors in Planta-
automate savings, you tion, Florida, says that when
might forget to make ad- it comes to car insurance,
justments as your goals or for example, it's worth
income change. As certi- checking for discounts and
fied financial planner Cata- comparing options each
lina Franco-Cicero puts it, time your policy is up for re-
"Somebody has to make a newal.
decision and it should be AUTOMATE SAVINGS, WITH
a human, not a machine." MANUAL TWEAKS
That's why she suggests us- Dollar bills are shown in New York, Oct. 24, 2016. In addition to signing up to
ing automation in conjunc- Associated Press automate retirement con-
tion with frequent reviews tributions every paycheck,
and updates. can trip you up," he says. lanta and shares money can set up autopay for a Mason suggests automat-
While signing up for au- START WITH BILLS THAT RE- tips through her Twitter certain amount to guaran- ic savings for other goals.
tomated bill payments MAIN THE SAME EACH handle @BadGirlFinances, tee that you pay at least the Every time he cuts costs
and savings transfers can MONTH automates bills that gener- minimum — or set a higher to free up extra cash, he
be part of your financial The easiest bills to auto- ate discounts for doing so. amount to pay down any says, "I try to capture it im-
spring-cleaning, consider mate are the ones that Many cell phone provid- accumulated debt. You mediately so it doesn't get
these strategies from finan- don't change: car pay- ers offer monthly discounts can use pay-minimum au- lost in the shuffle." He cau-
cial experts. ments, condo fees, phone of $5 or more for using au- tomation to ensure you're tions that you'll want to re-
FIRST, REVIEW YOUR CASH and cable bills, and insur- topay, and insurance pro- never late, then make ad- view the savings regularly
FLOW ance payments, for exam- viders often offer similar dis- ditional payments through- and make sure you have
Ambus Hunter, an ac- ple. You can reap benefits, counts. Enrolling in autopay out the billing cycle to low- enough money in your
credited financial coun- such as avoiding late fees for student loans can give er your credit usage and checking account to sup-
selor in the Baltimore area, without worrying about you a 0.25 percentage help your credit score. port the transfers, along
encourages his clients to getting hit with an outsize point interest rate reduc- CLOSELY REVIEW ALL with all of your other bills.
study their cash flow before transfer, says John Mason, tion. Smith notes that you CHARGES Adrienne Taylor-Wells ,
setting up automatic pay- CFP and president of Ma- can often select the day for Erin Lowry, author of the an accredited financial
ments. That means taking son & Associates in New- the withdrawal to ensure it "Broke Millennial" book se- counselor and founder of
a close look at the money port News, Virginia. falls before the due date ries, recommends check- Tailored WealthSaver — a
coming in and going out "I would draw the line at but after your paycheck is ing to be sure payments counseling firm in Houston
each month, including the variable charges such as deposited to prevent over- were made. She had been — points to an additional
specific dates of those de- your water bill, electric- drawing your account. automating her rent pay- strategy of auto-saving: "I
posits and withdrawals. ity and credit cards, unless "Start small. Don't put rent ment for six years when encourage clients to put
"I don't like haphazard au- you're disciplined enough on autopay if you're not she noticed her payments the savings in a savings ac-
tomation. If you aren't pay- to review those statements comfortable with that, but stopped processing earlier count in a separate bank
ing attention to cash flow carefully even if they're au- try little bills like phone bills," this year. so it's harder to get that
and just set up a few with- tomated," he says. she suggests. With credit "I never had an issue so had money and easier to save."
drawals here and there, it Ashli Smith, who lives in At- cards, Smith notes that you gotten a little lazy about q

FedEx Logistics opens global

headquarters in Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Forum sports and concert and serve our global cus-
Shipping giant FedEx Corp. venue in Memphis, a news tomers."
said its logistics subsidiary release said. FedEx Corp. is based in
has opened a new global FedEx Logistics said it invest- Memphis, with operations
headquarters in downtown ed more than $50 million to at Memphis International
Memphis, Tennessee. renovate the building. Airport. A subsidiary of Fe-
FedEx Logistics held an "Great cities have great dEx Corp., FedEx Logistics
event Tuesday to mark the buildings," said Udo Lange, said it provides air and
opening of its offices in the president & CEO of FedEx ocean cargo, warehousing
former Gibson guitar fac- Logistics. "From this magnifi- and distribution, customs Delivery vehicles depart the FedEx Ship Center in Cranberry
Township, Pa., on June 26, 2019.
tory, just steps from historic cent facility, our employees brokerage and other ser- Associated Press
Beale Street and the FedEx- will collaborate, innovate, vices to customers.q