Tackle debt using the SMART method

cards while paying down debt to get results. (Some versions replace “realistic” with “relevant,” meaning the goal is worth pursuing.)

■ Time-related. Set a deadline. The timeline should be based on what you can do, not just your desires. Smith says she crunched the numbers to establish the deadline that she met toward the end of 2015.

Confront your budget

Getting an accurate picture of your finances, such as overall expenses and the money available to pay down debt, is the key to setting SMART goals, says Adam Hagerman, a Maryland-based certified financial planner and educator who uses the method to help clients meet financial goals.

“What people think they spend is usually way different than what they actually do,” Hagerman says. “That’s why it’s important to take a step back and say, ‘How have I spent my money over the last 30 days?’”

Once you get that accurate picture, he says, you may need to revise your original goals.

You can also consider get-out-ofdebt strategies if you can’t keep up with your debt payments. For instance, you might consider transferring a balance to a new credit card with a 0 percent introductory offer, consolidating debt to a personal loan or seeing if you qualify for a credit card hardship program.

Unpack your motivation

No matter how well-defined your goal, it’s only achievable if you’re motivated enough to put in the work. A 2019 study in the Journal of Financial Planning found that establishing an emotional connection to an item of sentimental value could motivate people to save more money.

The same idea could apply to credit card debt, according to a contributor to the study, Bradley Klontz, a financial psychologist and associate professor at the Creighton University Heider College of Business.

For example, to eliminate debt to fund your kids’ college, a photograph of your kids in your wallet or on a mobile device could guard against goal-shattering purchases.

“It really helps anchor our emotions and our values to what essentially requires us to override our natural wiring,” Klontz says. “The way to override that is to actually have something that is more important, so then the sacrifice becomes easy to make.”

You can also name your goal. Try something like, “$5,000 to DebtFree and Stress-Free,” and change the number as the debt shrinks. It’s harder to steal from a goal when its name has an emotional attachment, he says.

Kathryn Harper, who most recently served as a property manager for CBRE, has been hired as property manager at Las Vegas-based Gatski Commercial Real Estate Services.

The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace,

in conjunction with Simon Property Group, recently announced that retail industry veteran Lea Willingham,

who most recently served as general manager of the Shops at Crystals

in Las Vegas, has been named senior general manager. Shane Wheatley was appointed assistant general manager. He held a similar position at The Shops at Crystals.

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Matt Rourke The Associated Press file The SMART method, a business tool, can be used to tackle personal debt. The SMART acronym calls for performance goals — in this case applying to personal finances — to be specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-related.