1. First things first

Assessing your current situation is the first step towards a financially secure future. Review the previous year’s spending and identify the pain points – what didn’t work for you vs. what did. An MS-Excel worksheet can come in handy to review your assets and liabilities and help you come up with a plan detailing the areas you need to focus on to make your finances work for you.

2. Budget it out

Once you have assessed last year’s spending, focus on a budget for 2017. A good place to start would be tracking your daily expenses for a month to determine where you are actually spending your money. Make necessary adjustments, take a fresh look at things and prepare a budget for 2017 based on your monthly expenses. Make provisions for big spends and don’t let overspending become a habit. A budget helps you make saving and spending decisions efficiently and asset allocation is smoother once you know where your money goes.

3. Don’t make it taxing

The importance of doing your taxes on time can’t be stressed enough. This helps you to avoid chaos near the deadline so keep your papers in order find yourself in a better financial situation in 2017

4. Free the clutter up

Do a review of all the checking, credit and other accounts that are lying dormant. Close accounts that you no longer use and avoid paying unnecessary fees for the same.

5. Review the portfolio

A new year makes for the perfect time to review and rebalance your portfolio. If you missed out on this step last year, start 2017 with assessing your asset allocation and changing what is required to keep your investments aligned with your long-term financial goals. You can leverage the several online tools or even bring in a financial advisor if you are not sure you’d be able to do the task on your own.!

6. When in debt, repay

While not all debt is bad, some of it can be done away with. Most of us have various kinds of debt on our books – education loans, car loans, home loans, credit-card balances, all of whose monthly payments steal a big chunk of our income. Systematically repay high-interest debt before anything else and renegotiate existing debt for lower interest debt. Consider paying more than the minimum amount on a monthly basis.

7. Planning for the future

Building a retirement fund is supremely important in saving for the future. Whatever be your age or mode of saving, use the new year as motivation to reassess your retirement goals and check if you are following through. If you have just started saving and are in your 20s, earmark 10-15% percent of your annual salary. In your 30s, look at 15-25%and in your 40s, 25-35%.

8. Insuring against mishaps

Review your insurances and include essentials such as life, car, health, homeowner etc. Ensure you have adequate insurance coverage in these departments. You might then want to look at other forms of insurance for security purposes such as term and disability insurance. Discontinue the insurance policies that don’t serve your interests anymore.

9. Charity begins with you

Make it a habit to donate money for charity. Giving helps you realize the value of money. Give some money to charity to help others and also yourself.

10. Investment is the key

The most important tenet here is to invest more this new year. Instead of putting expenditures first, make provisions for savings before anything else, and always keep in mind: Spending = Earning – Saving. More importantly, identify your long-term financial goals, where you see yourself and how much money is a comfortable cushion against mishaps. Then invest your savings regularly and intelligently and let your money work for you.