Your Five Step Financial Plan

Step 1: Risk management

Covering you against the unexpected
Life is no game show. An event like a major illness causes emotional stress and that’s the last thing you want when dealing with financial worries, particularly if the main income earner or homemaker is affected. Similarly, losing a loved one, becoming sick or disabled is traumatic enough without the additional stress of financial hardship. Insurance will bridge that gap. Good risk management includes making sure you don’t lose your home if you can’t work for an extended period, and ensuring that your family survives well in the event of your death.

Step 2: Cash management

Making sure there is always enough to pay the bills
Successful people have learned to manage their money. As the saying goes, a spendthrift has nothing upon which to build. Be wise as to how you spend your money. Spend it on worthy things. Have a tracking plan. Establish exactly where you spend your money. Establish a financial forecast. Great wealth starts with small steps. Take responsibility with your hard-earned money. Nobody else will.

Step 3: Debt reduction

Developing good financial habits
Take time to review your debt requirements and consolidate if necessary to minimise interest payments. Changing financial habits is difficult. It all starts with sound cash management and the desire to reduce debt quickly and believing you can. Debt reduction is imperative to long-term investing. We generally suggest paying debt off aggressively before you start investing.

Step 4: Investment planning

Short-term savings and long-term investments
Saving for a holiday or new car is not necessarily incompatible with providing for your retirement. Many people find it hard to save. Here are some of the reasons why:

  • They have no definite plans
  • Their plan lacks compulsion
  • The temptation to make withdrawals is too great
  • Their plan does not match their truly worthwhile goals
  • They invest in the wrong markets, without enough diversification

No one can achieve financial security without saving and the more a person can save the quicker they will achieve financial success

Step 5: Estate planning

Wills, trusts and business succession
Good estate planning covers a range of issues including wills, trusts and business succession. We can help you identify if you need to speak to a professional regarding these very important matters. Estate planning is an important consideration in planning for your financial security.