World Financial Planning Day is a global event to help raise awareness of the value of financial planning which takes place on 5 October. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to take positive steps to toward controlling your financial health, wealth, and wellbeing – now and in the future.

How can you improve your financial well-being on World Financial Planning Day? Following is a
comprehensive list that includes some starting points, as well as some more complex strategies for
those who want to make this year the start of a longterm commitment to financial success.

1. Improve your financial literacy. Don’t know
much about managing your money? Financial Advice
New Zealand and Sorted have some great articles,
tools and resources to help get your started.
2. Start a money journal. Explore your attitude
towards money, your hopes and fears and your
dreams for financial success. Doing so can help you
crystallise your long-term goals so you can make a
plan for the future.
3. Write down your long-term life and financial
goals. Include them in your journal, along with a
timeline for achieving them.
4. Reconcile your bank accounts. Check your bank
account debits against the payments you’ve made,
and make sure any pending bills are either paid or
scheduled.
5. Compare interest rates for savings accounts.
This is a perfect place to start building or expanding
your emergency fund. While you’re at it, commit to
saving a specific dollar amount or percentage of your
income each month.
6. Make an extra credit card payment. If you carry
a balance on your credit cards, use World Financial
Planning Day to start paying down the card with the
highest interest charge.
7. Determine your net worth. List your assets (what
you own), estimate what each is worth and add up
the total. Next, list your liabilities (what you owe), and
add up the outstanding balances. Subtract your
liabilities from your assets to determine your net
worth.
8. Estimate how much money you need to retire.
Wondering how much money you need to live
comfortably in retirement? Use a free online
retirement calculator to figure out a rough estimate.
One to try: sorted.org.nz/tools/retirement-calculator/.
Can you afford to bump up your contributions to
your KiwiSaver? Are you in the right fund? Seek
advice from a financial advice professional to get the
most from your KiwiSaver.
9. Organise your important household and
financial accounts. Would your loved ones know
how to run your household or understand your last
wishes if you became sick or injured, or died
suddenly? Use World Financial Planning Day to start
organising your important documents and accounts,
store them securely and share their location with a
family member, financial advice professional and/or
attorney.
10. Create a budget and track your spending. To
get a handle on where your money is going, try
creating a budget and tracking your spending.
11. Automate your savings. One of the least painful
ways to save is to automate the amounts you want to
set aside each month so you won’t be tempted to
spend them.
12. Put your money to work by investing
Term deposits, shares, property, KiwiSaver, managed
funds – sound intimidating? It’s really not. An
investment adviser can help you to determine your
investment goals and find the right balance (between
risk and return). Also, you don’t need to have a lot of
money to invest. Investing is for everybody!
13. Get insurance advice. Get the right insurance in
place to protect what you value most – your lifestyle,
your family your income, your business, your
mortgage, and/or your retirement – in the event the
unexpected happens. An insurance adviser can help
you choose the best protection plan for your needs.
14. Look for ways to lower your monthly bills. As
contracts for things like your mobile phone, cable
service or home security system expire, do some
comparison shopping to see if you can reduce your
monthly spend. You may even be able to negotiate a
lower rate with your current provider.
15. Make some extra money by selling unwanted
items. Looking for a way to reduce clutter and make
some quick cash? Explore the many online tools for
selling your unwanted items. Before doing so, be
sure to review secure ways to handle payment and
delivery, and research common scams.
16. Create a personal document retention policy.
Learn how long you should keep important
paperwork, such as contracts, loan documents, tax
returns or account statements. Create a system to
purge documents you no longer need, and scan and
save the ones you need to keep.
17. Talk money with your child. Does your child
understand the concept of saving money? Use World
Financial Planning Day to help your child open a
savings account and understand the basics of paying
bills and building credit.
18. Start an education/tertiary savings fund for
your child. If you are considering private education
for your child/children and want to help fund their
tertiary education, start a separate savings account
as early as possible, so when the time comes you
have a nice financial buffer to achieve this goal.
19. Create or update your will. If you have a will
already, use World Financial Planning Day to review
and update it as needed. If you need a will, use the
day to schedule an appointment with an attorney or
appropriate estate planning professional to create
one.
20. Make an appointment with a financial advice
professional. Those who get professional financial
advice are more likely to feel happy with their
financial position and better prepared for the future
than those who don’t. They feel more confident in
their financial decision making, in control, and clearer
about their finances. Visit financialadvice.nz to find a
financial advice professional in your area.

Source:  Financial Advice New Zealand –

 

 

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