Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 24 July 2019
A25

Millennial Money: Why you need a midyear budget check-in

By COURTNEY JESPERSEN Next, focus on taxes. That
Associated Press means reviewing your in-
A typical July includes va- come, advises Helen Ngo,
cations, travel, shopping, CFP, CEO of Capital Bench-
weddings and beaches. mark Partners in Georgia.
Budgets? Not really. “When we do midyear bud-
But the year’s halfway point geting, we don’t necessar-
provides a great opportu- ily look at your spending,”
nity to take a close look at Ngo says. “The first thing
your financial health and we look at is what money is
goals. coming in.” She says to pay
Now’s a good time to attention to things like your
“check yourself before you pay stubs and discretionary
wreck yourself,” says Nora income. For example, are
Yousif, certified financial you withholding enough
planner and vice president in taxes to break even in
at RBC Wealth Manage- April? Did you pay off a
ment in the Boston area. debt in the first half of the
Here are three important year and now have more
reasons to check your bud- income you can contribute
get right now — and easy to your 401(k)? Make ad-
things you can do to en- justments where necessary.
sure you reach your mon- In this June 15, 2018, file photo, cash is fanned out from a wallet in North Andover, Mass. YOU CAN CORRECT YOUR
ey goals for the rest of the Associated Press COURSE
year. If you have 10 categories, according to Brandon Ren- ahead. After all, the holiday By the time you finish these
YOU CAN LEARN FROM THE overshot three last month fro, an assistant professor of season is only a few months steps, you’ll likely have
PAST and stayed on budget for finance at East Texas Bap- away. And whether you identified areas where your
School’s out, but sum- seven, you’d be at 70%. So tist University. like it or not, tax season will budget has room for im-
mer budgeting calls for a give yourself a C for June. “You can kind of see where come shortly after that. Get provement.
grading exercise. Judging Almeida recommends do- your money went, and that ready now for these poten- “If you’re way off your pro-
your budgeting behavior ing this each month. With six will start to give you a bet- tial costly times of the year. jected saving or spending
is a productive way to see months of the year behind ter idea of problem areas Start by setting a holiday goals, you can modify your
where you stand, accord- you, you’re in a good po- or focus areas,” says Ren- season budget. “A lot of habits for the rest of the
ing to Andrew Almeida, sition to evaluate if you’re fro, who is also a financial people don’t consider year before it’s too late,”
CFP, founder of Almeida passing more months than planner. that, but it’s a big year- Yousif, of RBC Wealth Man-
Investment Management you’re failing. But don’t get Lean on your credit card end expense, which I think agement, said in an email.
in New York. discouraged; you shouldn’t and bank account apps you should account for,” That may include eliminat-
Here’s how to do it: If you expect straight A’s. to help you track your cash Almeida says. “And if you ing small things from your
haven’t already, separate “No one’s going to hit it flow. Some of these apps haven’t by midyear, I think budget, such as a subscrip-
your monthly budget into 100% of the time,” Almeida may even categorize the you should.” tion or membership you no
categories, such as gro- says. “Life is fluid.” transactions for you. If you’re not sure where to longer need. And when
ceries, rent, entertainment One easy and effective YOU CAN PREPARE FOR THE start, use the amount you you do remove some-
and so forth. Then see if way to monitor how you’re HOLIDAYS AND TAXES spent last year on holiday thing, redirect that money
you were over or under doing is by logging in to Once you’ve looked back, gifts and festivities as a somewhere it can be more
budget for each line item. your financial accounts, take a moment to think baseline. useful.q

Stocks rise after Coke, Hasbro others reports solid earnings

By DAMIAN J. TROISE companies reported solid 150 companies in the S&P bond yields allow banks to Kellogg rose 1.8%q
Associated Press second quarter earnings. 500 will report their finan- charge more interest on
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Corporate earnings are cial results through Friday. loans.
stocks moved higher in now in full swing after last Analysts are expecting this Coca-Cola soared after
early trading Tuesday on week’s relatively light load round of earnings to be beating Wall Street’s sec-
Wall Street as several major of mixed results. Nearly weak. ond quarter profit fore-
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of casts. The surprisingly good
America and several other results helped lift other
banks gained ground as consumer product makers.
bond yields rose. Higher Kraft Heinz rose 1.7% and

In this Thursday, July 18, 2019, file photo trader Dennis Maguire
works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Associated Press