Trick Or Treat? 13 Financial Steps To Take On Halloween

Trick or treat? That’s a phrase you'll hear a lot on Halloween.

The tradition is that the trick is an implied threat if you don't provide a treat. Halloween is all meant to be harmless fun and games.

But when it comes to our finances, there can be real harm. We too often fail to provide treats and end up suffering from the tricks we really should be afraid of.

Here is a countdown of 13 money-related tricks you might fall for and the treats that can help ward them away.

Trick No. 1: Your Identity Is Stolen

Treat: Check your credit reports for errors once a year for free at annualcreditreport.com. Sign up for free credit monitoring with sites like Credit Karma (which uses data from Equifax and TransUnion so you may also want to sign up for monitoring directly with Experian). Place a security freeze on your credit reports to prevent anyone from accessing your credit without your permission. Be careful of where you use debit and credit cards.

Trick No. 2: You’re Unprepared For An Accident Or Illness

Treat: Make sure you have adequate property and casualty, health, and disability insurance; an advance health care directive; and a durable power of attorney.

Trick No. 3: You Overlook Proper Estate Planning

Treat: While nothing can stop death, here’s how you can lessen the impact on your heirs. Make sure you have enough life insurance to provide for your dependents; a will; up-to-date beneficiary designations; and possibly a trust to avoid probate, provide more control over the disposition of your assets, and minimize estate taxes.

Trick No. 4: You Unexpectedly Lose Your Job

Treat: Try to build up enough cash reserves to cover at least three to six months’ worth of necessary expenses.

Trick No. 5: You’re Struggling With Debt

Treat: Consider ways to reduce the interest on your credit cards and your expenses. Then put those savings toward the debt with the highest interest rate. As one debt is paid off, put those payments toward the remaining debt with the highest interest rate until they’re all paid off. (Once you get to debts with interest rates below 4% to 6%, you may not want to pay them off early since you can earn more in the long run by investing the savings instead.)

If you’re having trouble with the minimum payments, you may want to negotiate an affordable payment plan with your creditors or work with a nonprofit credit counseling agency to do it for you. As a last resort, filing for bankruptcy protection can give you a clean slate to rebuild your credit. Student loans are virtually impossible to get rid of through bankruptcy, so if you’re struggling with those payments, consider a new federal loan repayment plan or talk with the loan service provider about options for deferment or forbearance.

Trick No. 6: You’re Not Saving Enough For Retirement

Treat: Put at least enough money in your employer’s retirement plan to get any matching funds and run a retirement calculator to see how much more you need to save to reach your goals. When running the calculator, be sure to assume below average real investment returns and an above average life expectancy to be on the safe side.

Trick No. 7: You’re Paying Too Much In Taxes

Treat: Make as much use as you can of tax-advantaged accounts like employer-sponsored retirement plans. Use taxable accounts for tax-efficient investments like equity index funds, individual stocks, and investment real estate and harvest losses in your portfolio each year.

Trick No. 8: You’re Losing Money To Inflation

Treat: For long-term money, have at least a portion of your portfolio invested in stocks to allow for enough growth to keep pace with inflation. You may also want to include real assets like real estate and commodities as a hedge against periods of rising inflation.

Trick No. 9: You’re Dealing With Poor Market Timing

Treat: Stick to a diversified asset allocation strategy based on your time frame and risk tolerance, and rebalance it at least once a year. One simple way to do this is with an asset allocation fund since they are designed to be a fully diversified one-stop shop. Talk to your advisor to learn more and get diversified.

Trick No. 10: Your Investment Returns Are Lower Due To Fees And Trading Costs

Treat: Low fund fees have been found to be the “most proven predictor of future fund returns,” a 2016 Morningstar report noted. You can minimize fees and trading costs by sticking to index funds (including low cost target date funds made up of index funds or ETFs). If you want help choosing your investment allocation, look for free workplace financial education and guidance programs from your employer, online tools that may be offered by your retirement plan provider for free, or representatives at a discount brokerage firm.

Trick No. 11: Your Child Faces The Burden Of Student Loan Debt

Treat: If your child is still young and you can afford to save for a college education, start putting money away in a registered education savings account. If your child is approaching college age, explore ways to maximize financial aid eligibility and seek out ways to cut costs like choosing a less expensive school or starting at a community college.

Trick No. 12: You Haven’t Protected Your Assets From Long-Term Care Costs

Treat: If you’re in your 50s to early 60s, consider purchasing long-term care insurance while you’re still relatively young and healthy enough to qualify.

Trick No. 13: You’re Procrastinating On Any Of The Above

Treat: Make a list of all the things mentioned above that you need to do and then break them down into manageable steps. If necessary, consider working with a financial planner who can help guide you through the process and hold you accountable. Your employer may even offer access to one for free through a workplace financial wellness program.

There will be lots of witches, zombies, vampires, and other monsters running around tomorrow night. Fortunately, they’re fairly harmless. But the real threats aren’t so visible, and it will take a little more than a few pieces of candy to keep them at bay.

Erik Carter, Former Contributor