How to get back on track with your finances

July 7th 2022 | Categories: Budgeting & Goals |

Is now the time to get back on track with your finances and start achieving your dreams and goals?

Let’s get back on track! Are you feeling off track or disorganised with your goals and plans for the future? We want to help you at whatever stage you’re at, whether you are just starting your career, or well on the way to your retirement, it is never too early to think about what lies ahead and how you can set yourself to be living your best possible life. Below we discuss some of the ways you can not only get back on track and stay on track.

Challenge your assumptions

Becoming aware of your assumptions about how you treat your finances can make a huge impact on both your financial and well-being goals.

There are three main areas we can look at here, your spending, your goals and even yourself! You may assume you are sticking to your budget but if you look into the details are you really?

Mindset: Is your mindset holding you back? Do you have old habits from family members passed down to you or have fallen into the trap of keeping up appearances? These behavioural habits can be classified as a money type.  In our money mindset eBook, you can explore the different kinds of money mindsets and get a better understanding of what money mindset you may have. You can also find out what your money type is by exploring here. By working on creating a more positive mindset your overall perception of money can start to change.

Budget: Be clear on your spending, when creating your budget don’t just write down how much you want to spend or assume how much you spend in each area, review what you have been spending over the last 3 months and categorise where your money is actually going. You may find your spending isn’t aligned with your values. This can be a groundbreaking exercise to uncover your bad money habits. By starting with what you have been spending you can work towards reducing non-essential areas of your spending to really start hitting budget goals. You can access our free expenses calculator here.

Goals: Are you clear about your goals? Or perhaps you don’t yet have goals. Creating goals is the most important step to having the motivation to stick to your budget. If you are unsure of your goals or don’t know which one to prioritise our goal-setting worksheet can help you. If a goal is too big it could feel impossible to reach so creating milestone goals can help keep you on track.

The final step to this is keeping your goals front of mind, perhaps write your goal down and keep it in the window of your wallet so every time you get your card out you are reminded of what you are working towards, you could put a photo on the fridge or a stick-it note on your desk.

We encourage you to challenge those things holding you back and start looking at how you can overcome setbacks.

Look ahead into your retirement years

Whether you are in your 50’s or 20’s now is always a good time to think about your dream retirement. So what is your dream retirement and what will it cost you to live a long and happy life?

There’s no single answer because your retirement expenses will depend on your expectations and your individual lifestyle. They will be affected by your activities, your health, where you live, your relationships and much more. Some steps to set yourself up for success could include:

• Find out how much super you currently have
• Project how much super you should have by retirement age
• Understand how much super you will need to live a comfortable retirement
• Consider ways to boost your retirement income
• Be clear about your dream retirement 
• Understand the different ways you can fund your retirement

You may be interested in our article “how much does a single person need for a comfortable retirement”

financial health check

Take our financial health check. Our financial health is a great tool to give you an overall picture of your financial health and find out areas you could be making improvements to your finances. Once you have completed the health check you will be emailed a full report and overall score of your current financial situation and opportunities to get ahead.

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What you need to knowThis information is provided by Invest Blue Pty Ltd. (ABN 91 100 874 744). The information contained in this article is of general nature only and does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. Therefore, before making any decision, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice regarding those matters and seek personal financial, tax and/or legal advice before acting on this information. Read our Financial Services Guide for information about our services, including the fees and other benefits that AMP companies and their representatives may receive in relation to products and services provided to you.