It’s currently the season for brisk walks amid changing leaves and pumpkin-spiced treats. That means that the days of buying presents, hosting parties and loading up on bags of candy for trick-or-treaters is right around the corner.
During these calm-before-the-storm sweater season days, there is an opportunity to get ahead of things and make a spending plan. Sandi Bragar, chief client officer and partner at Aspiriant in San Francisco, Calif., joined Rob Hart on the WBBM Noon Business Hour to discuss why now is really the perfect time for a financial reset.
“For most of us, we’re busy, we go through our day-to-day lives. We don’t really… take time to think about our money, but this is a really great time to do that,” Bragar said. That way, people can avoid falling into the holiday season trap of “spending a lot of money and doing things just out of habit, as opposed to out of intention.”
She even shared an example.
“A client of ours… used to throw these big blowout holiday parties. He would invite everyone from his best friend to the orthodontist that his kids use,” Bragar told Hart. Then, “he kind of took some time to set aside and look at his year-end habits. And he realized he didn't need to be throwing such a big party anymore. What was really important to him was the relationships he had with people that were closer in his circle. And so, he reduced the size of his party and the budget and ended up having a much more meaningful experience for himself and those that he cared about.”
Getting a head start on holiday spending plans isn’t just about budgeting for parties, dining, gifts, activities and travel. It is also a good way to check in on overall financial health. A review of income, savings, assets and spending can be surprisingly revealing.
“A lot of times for people that could be subscriptions or automatic payments that they have to gyms or other clubs that they’re not utilizing,” said Bragar. “This is a great time to revisit those, cut those off and redirect those dollars to something that’s more meaningful to you, which could be your savings and investment portfolio,” as well as holiday purchases.
