Before funerals at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI, many people start downsizing their physical lives as their children grow up and leave home and then retirement comes and they realize they’ve got more time behind them than they do ahead of them.

Big houses get sold in favor of smaller houses or retirement community living. Garages, attics, and closets get cleaned. Things of value are given to family members, while other things are either donated to charities or thrown away. The goal becomes making life simple.

But, while many people make sure to clean out their physical lives, they don’t always think about cleaning their financial lives.

Maybe the idea of cleaning your financial life before you die appeals to you, but you don’t know how to start. The first thing you’ll need to do before you start is to get a clear picture of what and where all your financial accounts are.

Financial accounts include bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, and credit card accounts. If you’re over the age of 50, then it is essential to start cleaning up your finances and making sure that you don’t have any financial messes left for your children to clean up after you’re gone.

The first step to cleaning up your finances is to consolidate your financial accounts. If you have older 401(k) and IRA accounts, you can ask your employer if you can fold them into the retirement plan you have with them, or you can simply consolidate all of them into one new IRA account.

Many people have bank accounts scattered at several different banks. Once you’re sure all payments have cleared, consolidate all your checking accounts into one checking account at one bank. Do the same for your savings account.

Make sure that the bank that you consolidate the checking and savings accounts into has full-service online banking, including digital check deposits, automatic bill payments, transfer capabilities between accounts, and manual bill payments.

As you move forward, if life takes you to a new city, keep the same bank so you’re not constantly opening and closing bank accounts, increasing the possibility that you’ve got several open with several banks.

The second way to clean up your finances is to automate bill payments for bills that are recurring and are for the same amount on the same date every month. This would include bills such as cable or satellite services, cell phone service, mortgage payments, and car payments. If they’re automatically paid each month, then you have less to worry about whether it’s been paid or not, which is a concern as people age.

Another way to clean up your finances is to pay off debt. Instead of leasing a new car every couple of years, convert the lease to a car payment (this will cost you extra money in the short-term, but it will save you money in the long run). If you are able, double your monthly mortgage payments to get your home paid off more quickly.

Pay off credit cards as quickly as possible. Once you get them paid off, keep only one or two major credit cards and one gas card, if you have any. It’s best to keep the credit cards that you’ve had opened the longest (these also probably have lower annual interest rates).

Going forward, use the credit cards only for what you are able to pay in full each month. Otherwise, use only your debit card or cash to make purchases.

For information about funerals at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help. You can come by our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI, 48044 or you can contact us today at (586) 412-8999.