What keeps you up at night? Many feel anxious about their finances due to unexpected expenses, health care costs and credit card debt. If you are one of those people, there are a number of steps you can take to help to dispel some of those fears.
Unexpected expenses – no one can anticipate every home or car repair, medical emergency or any other one of life’s surprises. It is a good idea to set aside some money from every paycheque to an emergency fund. Another way of having an emergency fund without keeping money in a savings account that pays you next to nothing in interest, is to have a line of credit approved and available for use. It is important you do not use this credit to increase your debt, take a holiday or buy a new toy if it is meant for emergency use only. Medical expenses – it is important that you and your spouse have the proper disability insurance in place to cover loss of income in the case of an accident or life insurance to pay off the mortgage and other debt in the case of a tragedy.
Women sometimes feel additional stress and anxiety of growing debt. Women may have to leave the workforce to care for children, care for an elderly family member, maternity leave payments are considerably less than when working.