The stress of addressing debt can be overwhelming, but Coeur d’Alene-based Edward Jones financial adviser Lauren Burton has some tips for how to get out from under the crush of owed finances.
Burton said all too often, the emotional weight of debt can influence people to make financial stumbling blocks where they ignore it or feel too helpless to act.
“If you focus on something being unattainable, you’ve taken yourself out of the game,” Burton cautioned.
She recommends breaking down an objective and the debts that exist as achievable actions to check off along the way.
“Look at the debts and pay the highest interest rate down. What I often see is it seems almost unattainable, so some people completely write it off all together and say, ‘I’m never going to be able to buy that house or do this goal,'” Burton said.
She recommends putting little bits aside, whether it’s just toward an emergency fund or if the intention is to use the money toward a down payment of a house someday.
“Once you get to the point where you have the savings set aside, you won’t miss out when that opportunity comes along,” Burton said.
If something critical, such as a large medical bill, transpires in the meantime, you can lean on funds from those extra savings to weather out those costs before working to start saving back up.
“If that inevitable health care issue comes up, you can have something where you don’t have to add to your debt more,” Burton said.
Make sure your savings are growing regularly. The focus should be on eliminating prior debts, but people shouldn’t let themselves get discouraged from saving even just small amounts aside for the future.
“’It won’t happen for me,’ can sometimes be a stumbling block where we can fixate on it,” Burton said. “You’d be surprised what you can do by putting small savings aside.”
