1. While most investors with a comfortable income automate their
investment processes for achieving long-term goals, they fail to arrive at a
payment schedule for their dues and expenses in a similar manner, ignoring it as
a trivial matter.
2. However, a history
of delayed payments and related decisions can affect their financial situation
in various ways.
3. Firstly, it
will result in a poor credit score, which will translate into a high cost of
borrowing and stiffer terms when loans are needed at a later stage.
4. As rebuilding credit score takes
a long time, it should be started immediately, because payment delays have not
occurred due to a shortage of funds but due to apathy.
5. Secondly, it
could cause loss of insurance protection if premiums are not paid on time to keep
policies in force or renewed on time, leading to risk of shouldering big
expenses and dependents left unprotected, besides sizable amounts of costs and
penalties for delayed payments which could have been invested elsewhere to
achieve other goals.
6. Thirdly, some
penalties could also lead to forfeited benefits, such as term insurance
benefits, no-claim bonus on general insurance policies and accumulated reward
points on cards.
7. Therefore,
payments of dues and expenses should be automated as far as possible to
replicate the success achieved in automating investments.
8. Signing up for
bill payment services offered by most banks and registering all service
providers is an efficient way for making payment process easy and less
susceptible to being postponed.
9. Also, choosing
annual payment option, wherever possible, reduces chance of missing out on
important payments.
10. For receiving
regular intimation about dues for taking timely action, it is also essential
that contact details with service providers are always updated.