The Year of the Tiger is a good time to sort out your financial plans for 2022.

If you’re not sure where to start, here are five tips that might help.

1. Don’t get mauled by your mortgage. The new year is a good time to look at your debt situation. How much do you owe and what might a rate rise do to your monthly mortgage? What other debt are you carrying? Do you have a buffer if things get tougher? It’s always good to review your debt and rein it in where you can.With the real estate market running hot, and interest rates at all time lows, Australians seem to be happy to borrow from the banks to fund a property purchase or a major renovation.But will the boom continue, and will the banks keep lending money so cheaply?
2. Nip away at your bad money habits. We’ve all got bad money habits, but we don’t really know what they are until we do a budget. Yes, a budget. Sounds boring, doesn’t it? But once you get into it, you’ll soon see how exciting it is. Write down what you earn. Then list all your expenses, including your Netflix subscription and your morning coffee on the way to work. Now look at how well your numbers sit with the 50/30/20 rule. This rule says you should be aiming to allocate 50% of your income to needs, 30% to wants and 20% to savings and servicing your debts. How close are you?
3. It’s a jungle out there. Stay on your path. Staying on your investment path isn’t always easy. Especially if you’re trying to do it all on your own. If you don’t have a financial planner you can easily wander off in the wrong direction, get stuck in one spot, or go backwards. A good financial adviser will map out a plan that can help you achieve those goals. And they’ll guide you along the way, checking in on your progress and suggesting ways that you might adjust your investment strategy as your situation changes.
4. Realise you don’t have nine lives. Cats may get nine lives, but people only get one. This means that, even though you might be feeling bullet proof right now, you’re most definitely not. To many, life insurance and income protection cover are grudge purchases. And yet it’s the foundation of your wealth plan. It underpins your income, your mortgage, your kid’s education.
5. Get your self managed super fund purring. Lots of Australians have self managed super funds (SMSFs). According to the ATO, there were 597,900 SMSFs as at June 2021. SMSFs are extremely popular with investors who want to have more control of the assets that are held in their super. Some people make all the investment decisions themselves. Others prefer to work with an investment adviser. The advantage of this second approach is that you get specialist expertise. It also means that you’re less likely to fall prey to personal biases.

If you would like more information please call 1300 ELSTON or contact us to speak to one of our advisers.