Today is the day to: stop, take stock and tackle your finances head on.
Is it always tomorrow, next week, next month or next year that you’re going to get your finances in order? It’s important to get on track as soon as possible. The main reason is that no one is going to give you back missed opportunities or money that you could of saved in tax or earned by investing the right way. Here are some important things to take into consideration.
- Prepare for the unexpected. Imagine feeling like you’re in control of your finances, but suddenly something happens – a medical diagnosis, a serious accident, an adult child moves back home when their marriage breaks down, you lose your job. What do you do? It’s essential that you have a plan and funds in place in preparation for such a setback. If you don’t need to use it, it’s a nice bonus down the track when it comes to your retirement! You can also consider insurance if you haven’t quite saved sufficient for a rainy day or have it as an in-between solution until you have saved sufficient.
- Have a budget in place and your debt under control. It doesn’t matter how much you earn or what stage of life you’re at, your budget must keep track of income and outgoings, focus on reducing or paying off debt and allow for an emergency fund. It is vital that you understand how you are spending your money so don’t stick your head in the sand. Contact us if you want a good budget tool.
- Is your super looking healthy? Have you consolidated your super accounts? Have you made the right investment choices? Do you need to reassess your super? Do you need to start topping it up? All these questions need to be answered and something needs to be done about it, the long-term impact of not making the right changes will have a negative impact on your overall wealth. Just getting the wrong risk profile and investment mix could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time you hit retirement.
- Your will. Do you have one? If you do, is it up to date? Have you considered the welfare of your dependents? This aspect of your family planning is always left in the bottom draw. If you leave it to late it will be expensive and painful for the surviving family members to deal with. Sit down with a solicitor and get the will drawn up together with an enduring power of attorney and guardianship. Not all assets are included in the Estate so make sure you get the right advice, so the right assets go to the people you wish them to go to.
- Are appropriate insurances in place to get you by if you are incapacitated for a period of time and to protect the future of your spouse and dependants should anything untoward happen to you? Its vital that you get the right amount, we find that most people are generally over insurance and pay extra premiums for nothing or are under insured and will not have sufficient if an event happened.
- So what happens if you want to reduce debt, make an impact on your savings and go on that dream holiday, but you only have $100 left at the end of each month? Firstly, you are not alone and secondly, you need to prioritise – a financial adviser can help you with this. You need to accept that: a) most people experience that sense of never having enough money and b) you’ll never really know anyone else’s financial position. Fact one: even the super wealthy feel they don’t have enough money – everyone needs to learn to live within their means. Fact two: despite appearances, the family with ‘everything’ might be in severe financial stress – so don’t compare yourself to them.
- Know how to effectively negotiate a better salary. Make sure you’re earning what you’re worth.
- Above all, don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. In other words, get your finances in order now and you’ll reap the benefits down the track. Now is a great time to have a chat with an adviser.
For a complimentary phone call to get some guidance and ideas on getting your finances in order you can request to speak to an EPG Wealth adviser here.