INSIDE TODAY
Four steps to ensure that your financial goals are on track.
Good intentions can be like rainbows. Clear and bright one minute, faded and forgotten the next. In fact, some surveys suggest that only 20% of people stick to their New Year’s resolutions past February each year.
While it’s possible to quick-fix fitness or social commitments, allowing your money goals to slip can have a significant negative impact on your current and future financial wellbeing.
To be fair, you may not have anticipated the impact of a 1% increase in VAT, or an 82 cents increase in the petrol price. Rising prices can make it harder to stay on track.
Yet, according to Priya Naicker, advice manager at Old Mutual Personal Finance, making financial planning a part of your lifestyle can help overcome the challenges associated with fluctuating prices and uncertainty.
“This essential financial health check can also serve as the motivator you need to adjust your spending behaviour and priorities along the way,” says Naicker.
“If you have not made the progress you expected to, don’t be discouraged. Instead, use the opportunity to get back to basics.”
Naicker suggests the following steps to spring clean your finances:
Things change – check in with your goals
Refer back to the financial goals you jotted down at the start of the year, and decide if these are still relevant and practical.
“If you’ve changed jobs or married, for example, it’s important to talk to your financial advisor about adjusting your financial plan accordingly,” says Naicker.
Pause and reflect
Naicker advises mindfulness. Knowing what you want to achieve and why are key to keeping yourself on track towards achieving your goals.
“Give yourself time to detach from the part of your brain that acts on impulse. Objectively identify achievements or learnings and what these mean for your plan,” says Naicker.
Turn inspiration into action
“Take action towards setting your goals in motion. Create a financial plan and begin putting solutions in place that help you achieve your dreams. Whether it’s protecting your income, investing for future holidays, properties or retirement, or even taking a sabbatical, get started as soon as possible.”
Leverage tools and technology to stay alert
Having the right tools in place can help you identify and maximise opportunities such as year-end topup contributions to retirement annuities and tax free savings accounts (before the tax year end at the end of February), and your free annual credit record report.
Downloading the free 22seven app will deepen your insights into your spending while helping you keep track of your daily finances. Leverage these tools to kick-start your journey to financial wellness.