Fool Year Resolutions

Resolve to get a few important things done, and your financial future may end up much brighter.

• Get your financial house in order. If you're paying off your credit card bills in full each month, then charge away. But if you're borrowing on cards and accumulating debt, you're putting your financial security in peril. Eliminate all your credit card debt as soon as possible. (Let us help, at www.fool.com/ credit.) You can call your card issuer and try to negotiate a lower rate. Or take out a less costly bank loan in order to pay it off. You'll never be able to grow a nest egg when you're paying 15 to 35 percent per year on your plastic.

• Vow not to buy any mutual funds without checking their five- or 10-year performance vs. the Standard & Poor's 500, a handy benchmark for the overall market. Most mutual funds underperform the market. Fund performance stats can be found at your library or at www.morningstar.com. You'll find other fund-evaluating tips at www.fool. com/mutualfunds/ mutualfunds.htm.

• If you've never bought stock on your own before, vow to make one stock purchase of a company whose products or services you know and love. Look around your home or office, or think about where you shop frequently. Some company names are sure to pop up — perhaps FedEx, Wal-Mart, PepsiCo or McDonald's. Do some research. Call the company and ask for a free investor's package, featuring an annual report, among other informative documents. You should do a lot of research before investing a lot of money, but starting now with a little is a good way to get your feet wet. For suggested companies, visit www.fool.com/shop/newsletters and www.betterinvesting.org.

• Once you begin investing, keep learning more. Follow your holdings' news and developments at least quarterly. Track your performance. Invest for the long haul. Develop a strategy. Plan for retirement. And above all, don't forget to have fun. If you're not enjoying studying companies, stick with a simple stock market index fund. Details at www.fool.com/mutualfunds/ indexfunds/indexfunds01.htm and www.indexfunds.com.