First of all, let me wish you a very Happy New Year in advance.
May the New Year Bring Joy, Peace, Happiness, Health and Wealth to You and Your Entire Family ― Happy New Year 2019
So what pledges are you going to make for the Year 2019?
- Get outside to keep fit and healthy?
- Spending more time with family?
- Giving up some bad habits like smoking?
Whatever pledges you make, I am sure you are going to succeed in that. I also thought of sharing some pledges which you can take in your day to day personal finance. I am sure these would not be difficult to follow. I will not take much of your time, let us pledge together for the safe, secure, healthy and wealthy life for ourselves and our family.
Personal Finance Pledge – Month by Month for the Year 2019
January 2019
I Pledge that I will buy a term insurance and I will buy it online. I will buy pure vanilla term policy without any riders.
If I do not have one, I will buy a new one.
If I already have one, I will check whether it is sufficient for my family, in my absence.
I will buy it online only as it gives me the proper perspective of the product & lower premium.
I will give details of my existing policies/health conditions/habits etc. while applying for this policy. I will not hide anything to save on premium.
February 2019
I Pledge that I will buy a health insurance for my family and my parents.
I will buy it even if I have a corporate health insurance cover.
Who knows, whether I can purchase it tomorrow, if anyone in the family is detected with any life style issues like diabetes, hypertension etc? Who knows if something happens while changing jobs?
And I will buy atleast 10 Lakhs cover- the more the better. I may buy a single base cover or a combination of base cover and super top up, but I will buy large cover.
March 2019
I Pledge that I will buy a Personal Accident Policy to supplement my life insurance and health insurance policy. This is the only useful policy in case of disability due to accidents.
Also, I will ensure that the temporary total disability cover is added in the personal accident policy.
April 2019
I Pledge that I will close all my high interest loans with the bonus, which I will get in April.
First Priority would be to close the credit card balance, if any. After that, I will decide which one to close first, based on the interest rate.
Be stress free, by closing high interest rate loans.
Yes, I will even if I have to sacrifice some of my dreams for a year, like buying a car with bonus. I would be stress free first.
Also, I pledge to start creating Emergency fund for any emergency in the family.
If both of us are working, it will be a minimum of 3 months living expenses including loan EMIs. (6 months ideal). If I am the single earning member in the family, the emergency fund will be around 6 months living expenses.
If I am in an uncertain job and working overseas, I will have 1 year living expenses as emergency fund.
May 2019
I Pledge that I will make a budget of my income and expenses. I will check if I am spending too much on shopping or outside food or any other thing. Everyone can have different expenses, but I will keep a track of it.
Let me check if this can actually help to reduce my spending, or it may help you to spend more on what I like? Right!
June 2019
I Pledge that I will define my goals, one by one. Be it child education, child marriage, retirement planning, buying a house, buying a car or going for a vacation.
I will definitely take help from my spouse (of course, if I am married). I will not do it alone.
I will define 4 Categories of Goal
- Immediate Goals
- Short Term Goals
- Medium Term Goals
- Long Term Goals
I also pledge to start tax planning by this month. I will not leave it to the year end.
July 2019
I Pledge to start working towards my goals, taking my investment into account. I will not do random investments.
I will start SIPs for my goals. I will ensure that I choose limited number of funds.
If I am already working towards my goals through SIPs, I will review my SIPs. I will ensure that I do not have tons of SIPs. I will ensure that I will stick to my investments at least for 1 year. I will ensure that I will not change my funds very frequently.
August 2019
I pledge to pay one extra EMI for my home loan. If I do it every year, my loan can be closed much earlier than the original tenure of 20 years. If there is not home loan, I will pay one extra EMI for car loan. Whatever it is, I will reduce my financial liability.
September 2019
I pledge to take my family on vacation. I will spend quality time with my family. I will ensure that I get leave from my office and I will not postpone it.
Whatever pressures are there in my office, I will put them aside and will enjoy my vacation.
Believe me it will help you to regain your efficiency for next half of the year.
October 2019
I Pledge to keep my usage of credit card in control. All big billion, mega day sales come in this month. I will only spend what I can afford. I will never ever increase my credit card liabilities.
Never Ever!
November 2019
I Pledge that I will ensure prompt nominations in all investments & insurances. I will ensure that the nomination is done in all folios of mutual funds, Life insurance, property etc. I will also inform my family about these.
I also Pledge to make a Will in this month. I will list all the details in the Will and ensure a proper bifurcation of assets in the will.
December 2019
I Pledge to make a document –‘What if I die prematurely’ – my family needs to know my details, my plans for them, and my wish on:
- My Investments – what to redeem, how to redeem, whom to contact
- various utilities in my name that needs to be closed – mobile, internet, etc
- various utilities where my name needs to be changed – EB bill, Gas cylinder, etc
While the personal separation cannot be compensated, this document should hopefully ease the financial life of my family.
Pledge for the Year 2019
Now, these were month wise pledges. You can tweak it according to your convenience.
But there are two pledges, which you must take
I Pledge to improve my Health and Job Skills for a better future. If you lose any of these two, all your goals start drifting away from you.
Last but not the least
I Pledge to improve my relationships with everyone. Trust me, it really helps, be it your job, business or personal relationship. Though not an easy task but some days back, I read a quote. I do not know who has written it but definitely worth writing it here.
“Zindagi ko kuch is tarah hamne ASAN kar Liya
Kuch logon se maafi maang li or kuch logon ko maaf kar diya.”
Once Again, wish you a Healthy, Wealthy and Prosperous New Year to you & family.
Keep Rocking! Keep Investing!
This is such a well written article in which so much of thought has gone into. A financial goal a month is doable!! The pledge on health, job skills and relationships is so essential and i am so glad to see it included here. Awesome article and i will try to follow it.
Thanks Shweta.
Please share the article with your family and friends.
wonderful article.pledges differently to do …
Wow. What a year to Start. Worth Inspiring. Thanks Melvin
Thank you Mr. Rao
Perfect article by the master. Have always imparted the knowledge about financial planning. Will abide by the pledges
Thanks Akash.
Good overall summary. Like the straightforwardness of the article.
You are the Best financial planner because you are such professionally solving the problem with great interest in future forecasting.Melvin sir always show best way to do planning.Thanks for all investment you suggested.Happy new year.
Very nice article for the year 2019 to follow by way of pledges. I will definitely attempt to comply the pledges as early as possible. Thank you very much and Wish you a Very Happy New Year 2019.
Excellent article.
Happy New Year to all.
Very nice article Melvin Sir.
These are required to be stress free, be it any kind, in life.
Thanls
Very precisely drafted financial planning tips. Every one should follow it. Thanks Mr Melvin
All the best
Great article – shared with contacts
Thanks Priya.
Wonderful Sir.