Sheryl Garrett

Getting a handle on your personal finances can be tough. We’re constantly being urged to spend, spend, spend, while others encourage us to save, save, save! The good news is that you can create a healthy balance between the two. When you understand your personal financial situation, you can make smart decisions about what to do with your money.

If your family is embarking on a military career, your life could be unpredictable, stressful, and ever-changing. You'll want to keep your military family happy, ease the stress of making frequent moves, and connect with other military families. To further minimize your stress, learn to manage your monthly finances and the time away from your deployed spouse.

Military service is a demanding way of life for the entire family. To keep your military family together and happy, try to remember and apply the following pointers: Be flexible! Respect each other’s dreams and goals. Manage expectations. Develop family rituals. Maintain open lines of communication.

You may want to consider establishing automatic investment programs to save for your retirement. Several automatic savings programs may be available to you. You need to determine how much you can direct to each of these automatic plans. Here’s how you do it: Make sure that you’re taking full advantage of any employer matching contribution for which you may be eligible with your company’s retirement plan.

When you’re ready to eliminate your credit card debt, you can take one of two approaches: pay off the card with the highest balance first, which allows you to save on interest in the long-run, or pay off the smallest balance first, which makes you feel good about your progress. Choose your preferred method and then follow these steps to wipe out your credit card debt: List all your credit card debtors in order of the highest-interest-rate first or the smallest balance first, whichever you feel may be most effective.

Managing your personal finances requires a balance between what you need and want today and what you’ll need and want in the future. Always going for instant gratification leads to constant dissatisfaction! Instead, plan ahead by using the following tips: Write down your goals. Be specific and revisit them annually.

You, the client, have the right to ask any questions you feel are appropriate to help you select the right advisor. If you’re trying to figure out whether an advisor is worth your hard-earned dollars, be sure to ask the following questions: How and how much are you paid? Advisors are required to tell you how they’re paid but not how much.

As an adult, you need to model good money-management behaviors for children and involve them as much as possible in your decisions about money. Here are some ways you can interact with your children to help instill healthy money-management behavior: Give children specific roles with regard to daily, weekly, and monthly money-management activities.

You should review your finances any time your family starts on a new career path, and the military is no exception. Know how much money you really need to purchase essentials for your family — food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and insurance. Most of these required expenses are provided by, or supplemented by, the military.