7 Financial Focuses for 2022.
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago”
– Warren Buffet
What a great time to take control of your financial future. Now. Not soon, not maybe later, NOW. I’ve prepared some basic areas to focus on that could make a whole lot of difference to the shade under your tree! I hope you can take something from my thoughts below and begin to make changes now.
- Set Up A Budget – This doesn’t mean being a scrooge, but having knowledge around what you are spending each week and having a plan around what you can afford to spend, want to save or what is absolutely necessary is important. Just sliding by week to week is stressful, and creating a simple budget can alleviate stress.
- Save Something Every Month – Now you have done your budget, you probably have established what you can afford to save. Maybe its $50 or $100 per week to set aside, use the power of compound interest and then have the discipline not to touch that growing account.
- Superannuation – Your employer is putting aside 10% of your income into Super. Imagine the power of adding extra to that amount. It’s tax deductible and again with the power of compounding interest you will be accumulating wealth for your retirement. Even a small amount makes a huge difference over a lifetime.
- Review Subscriptions & Insurances – As part of your budget and your priorities, looking at your expenditure can link in with your choices. For example, you may want to save for a deposit on a house. Looking at where you can save is important. It might be a simple decision to cancel all subscriptions for a year to assist with the saving. A small sacrifice really. Your choices can have a huge difference in your future position. We know we should never be without house or car insurance, but placing importance on having insurance on ourselves, be it life, income, trauma or total and permanent disability is often an oversight. A terrible oversight that we should action.
- Pay Down Debt – With interest rates being so low, this is a great time to be paying down debt. If you have credit card debt because of the higher rates, pay this down as quickly as possible.
- Prepare A Will – Whilst not a glamourous topic, having an active Will and instruction of what you want to be done if you fell off the perch (so to speak) is a very important decision. It can protect your family and beneficiaries at a time when they are dealing with grief. You want to protect family as much as possible.
- Review Your Plan – To have a plan is the first thing. To review, adjust and implement the plan is sometimes where people fail. For the cost of a cup of coffee per day, you could have a professional planner to assist with those decisions and to assist you set up your financial future.
It’s certainly not rocket science, however I understand that finances, insurance & budgeting can be stressful and don’t come easily to many people. This is where you find someone you connect with to help set you up, guide you, keep you on track & accountable. Our Financial Planners are great at this – so touch base with our team if this article has resonated with you.
Again, for a tree to grow and create shade, it doesn’t happen overnight.
Have a great day!
Silvio Marinelli
Co-Founder & Partner of Highview Accounting & Financial