The Parish Walk has come around again in the blink of an eye. Hats off to all those doing it.
Some will inevitably take this on as a challenge to get fit in the New Year. A big fat goal possibly set on New Year’s Eve, in a drunken moment of “peak life” euphoria.
Some will have prepared meticulously. Some will have done nowhere near the training they’d hoped for.
Some (youngsters) will be hungover and still smash it. It’s what makes the Parish Walk great.
It’s got me thinking about the few goals I’d set (which weren’t that big, in truth). The intention was admirable, but the execution has been terrible.
Life has got busy, as it does for all of us. And I just couldn’t be bothered when it’s not been busy!
I’m getting real now and have decided to ensure I get one thing done – that will do for this year.
We are in the business of giving people financial advice and pointers to make their lives better. But just like we experience in our own lives, sometimes it’s hard to work your way through a big list.
Maybe it’s better just to say “I’m going to get one thing done and that will be better than getting nothing done”.
Perhaps you could get one thing ticked off this list between now and the end of the year!
Start to budget ruthlessly
Keep a record of what you spend in each area of your life by regularly checking your bank statements. You can see if or on what you’re wasting money.
Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, etc., all seem cheap individually, but it’s the small things that add up.
Insure against disaster
What would happen to the family if you got hit by a bus or got ill and couldn’t earn? Would everyone manage?
Rainy day fund
Have some money in the bank to keep you afloat in the short term; a slush fund, rainy day money, whatever you want to call it, you never know when it’s going to be needed.
Life is unpredictable, don’t we all know it.
If you receive child benefit, try if you can to save some of it for the kids’ future
If you don’t receive child benefit as a high earner, try to earmark some money each month to save for them.
Spend what you don’t save, not the other way around!
People can spend money and live within their means simultaneously. Commit to a new strategy of saving, then spending.
Overpay your mortgage
If you can, overpay your mortgage by a bit each month. It will make a massive difference over the long run, and your future self will thank you.
Have a retirement plan
Have a target figure to aim for, which will allow you to retire / part retire when you hit it.
Know roughly how much you will need to put in and for how long to get there.
Even if it’s just a “back of an envelope plan”….. it’s still a plan.
Get a Will
Your estate might not go to the people you want it to if you don’t have one.
Get an enduring power of attorney
None of us like to think about the possibility of not being able to make our own financial decisions due to losing mental capacity.
In the worst event of this happening, having an enduring power of attorney in place will be invaluable.
