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Tag: Financial Healthcheck

Boss of your Own Money

Be the boss of your cash

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Boss of your Own Money

Well, often changing how you spend the money you have now, can help you start to save that extra cash.

It all comes down to your cashflow.

Your cashflow is the amount of money that’s coming in and going out of your bank account at any point in time. It’s not a measure of your wealth, but whether there’s enough cash available to meet your expenses, with some left over. If your cashflow isn’t in check, you might find it difficult to pay your bills on time, or end up relying on credit.

The first step to a more positive cashflow is to become clear on the incomings and outgoings of your money. Understanding and managing your money well now, will help set you up for the future.
A well-managed cashflow and budget can help you:

  • Feel in control of your money and more financially confident overall
  • Feel secure about meeting your expenses, and paying off your debts
  • Save time and money
  • Start saving for other goals
  • Stop focussing on your day to day money, and start planning for your future.

Health check your cashflow

There are a few telling signs that can point to whether your cashflow is working for you. Answer yes or no to the questions below to see how healthy your day to day money is.

Do you:

  • Feel in control of your money and financially confident overall?
  • Feel secure about meeting your expenses, and paying off your debts?
  • Have a solid, workable budget?
  • Focus on how your money can help you in the future, rather than worrying about today?
  • Have a growing savings account?
  • Feel as though you don’t need to think about your money much?
  • Have bank accounts set up so they’re easy to manage?

Answering yes to all these questions means your cashflow is probably in a healthy position. And now would be a good time to start thinking about how you can save towards your goals and building wealth in other ways.

Answering no to any of these questions is ok too, because it’s a great opportunity to get your money working smarter and harder for you. Some things you can do include – setting some goals, writing a budget and making sure you have a good system in place to manage your money. There are plenty of apps and online services available that can help with this.

We’re here to help

Our job is to help you build wealth for the long term, and often getting your cash in order is the first step to growing your wealth. We can help you take a fresh look at the way you’re managing your money, and help you find new ways to save on costs and time.

Getting a clear picture of what’s happening with your money will also help you feel more confident about your finances overall. So you can stop juggling bills, and start saving for future goals.

 

Don’t know where to start?

For more help and to take a fresh look at the way your managing your money, speak to your financial adviser at SFP. Or if you don’t have an adviser yet, contact us on 02 9328 0876.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

 

General Disclaimer: This article contains information that is general in nature. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. You need to consider your financial situation and needs before making any decisions based on this information. Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information.

Day One!

It all starts with a single step. All you need to do is start

Written by on . Posted in Financial Behaviour. No Comments on It all starts with a single step. All you need to do is start

Day One!

How to stop procrastinating and start getting ahead

Why? Well, it’s got a lot to do with our personality, our ego, the fact that we’re so busy all the time and the actual process of admitting that what we’ve been doing is wrong. 

It can be especially difficult to change when we’re surrounded by same people with the same views as us. Why should I stand out?

Generations Y and Z…

Time is our most valuable asset and we’re all running out of it.For that very reason I would like to dedicate the next section to our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters – the young people with still so much time on their hand.

When you’re young, it feels nice to have a first job, still live at home, spend the money on travelling and going out.

Let’s pause for a second and think about where you are at the moment

How much of your life have you already lived and how much you still have to live – a lifetime!!! What an opportunity…

What you may not fully realise day by day (because you just don’t) is that the time is on your side and you will never (ever) be in this position again. 

Use that competitive advantage! You don’t want to end up like the vast majority of adults – looking back in ten or more years’ time, realising what a massive opportunity you had… And you blew it!

What I’m talking about is the power of ‘doing’.

What can you do? You have two choices:

  1. Choice 1: Do nothing and spend every cent. This is what most of you will do. Just like everyone else (I thought you wanted to be different?)
  2. Choice 2: Start implementing tiny changes into your spending habits. Time is your best mate here. Time will do the rest, as long as you stay committed.

Remember, if you change nothing, nothing will change. The change doesn’t need to happen all at once. You can start with baby steps. 

One year later, you will definitely be in a better position than if you’d done nothing.

There are many ways to put money aside but here’s a fun example to start getting ahead – something that I call the reverse version of “The 52 week savings challenge”:

  1. You start with $52 that you put away in the first week – that is the biggest commitment you need to make. It gets easier from here.
  2. The next week it’s only $51. And as you continue, you decrease the money you put away, by a dollar every week, until you will end up with only a dollar contribution in the last week, a year later!

Over the course of the year, you will save exactly $1,378.

It’s a first step, it’s something. It can eventually give you that competitive advantage.

This can be used as a nice little deposit into an investment plan which can one day be converted into an investment property deposit. It will give you that competitive advantage.

It can be the difference between having to work every night to earn extra money for your ski trip compared to having a passive income to fund your travels so you can spend more time with your friends.

 

Is it One Day or Day One? all you need to do is start…

Do anything, just start…maybe it’s time to have an honest conversation about doing something about your future? Call us to arrange an appointment to speak with one of our advisors on 02 9328 0876.

 

General Advice Warning: This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice that has not been tailored to your personal circumstances. Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information.
Investment Performance: Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns as future returns may differ from and be more or less volatile than past returns.