What can you do to help give you leverage after the most unexpected year of our lives? Walker Hill knows where to start.
Review!
2020 was undeniably a tough year for many Aussies, so you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself if you didn’t hit your financial goals (or fell further behind than you have in a while).
Still, you can apply your lessons from 2020 by taking an honest assessment of how you performed financially in 2020 so you can start making plans for 2021.
Start by taking stock of whether you run a surplus or a deficit and whether it was something beyond your control (ie the pandemic!) that created financial difficulty, or whether you have made financial stumbles of your own accord.
Budget!
With a review in place, it’s time to create a new budget, which will give you clarity as to where your money is coming and going. When you track where you spend your money, it becomes easy to make adjustments and increase your savings.
Automate!
The easiest way to boost your savings is to put it on autopilot. Human nature makes it hard to save, as it always seems like there’s something you can spend your money on. But if you automate your savings, it takes emotion and choice out of the equation. Without any effort on your part, funds are automatically taken out of your bank account and safely tucked away into a savings account. Over time, you likely won’t even miss the auto-savings, but you’ll love the way your account grows in value.
Take it a step further and put all of your bills on autopay. You’ll never miss another payment and you’ll never pay another late fee, giving you more money to save. It’s recommended you beef up your emergency fund in these uncertain times- so when you can, however you can, save, save, save!
Ideally, your emergency fund should ideally be large enough to cover not just things like medical bills or unexpected car repairs but also months of lost wages. It might take some time to get your savings back to this point after 2020, but the easiest way to save is to have it done for you!
If you require assistance with yearly reviews, budgets or where to put your savings, don’t hesitate to contact us to help you make it count today.
