With the festive season over and with the New Year underway, now is the perfect time to sit down and reassess your financial position and set your financial goals for the year ahead.
Often an exercise that many overlook, the new year provides you with a new chance to improve your financial position and achieve financial freedom in 2020.
With that all said, here are 6 tips for achieving financial freedom in 2020.
- Set Achievable Goals
This may seem an obvious one but about 92% of people who set goals for the new year don’t actually achieve them and often this is due to the fact they set unachievable or unrealistic goals.
The first place to start is to with your annual income and then calculated your financial necessities such as rent, mortgage repayment and lifestyle spending. Once this has been done you can then go about setting realistic and measurable savings / investment goals.
- Try and cut down on unnecessary spending
No doubt after the silly season you have probably spend a little more then you usually would. With festivities slowing down, the early new year is a great time to cut down on unnecessary spending.
Once again start by listing out your needs such as rent and food and then list out extras that you want and call these bonuses. Pick your most desired bonus and allow yourself to splurge on only this ‘bonus’ once a month and dedicate the remaining money towards you goal, whether it be savings or paying off debts.
- Shop around for cheaper financial products
Refinancing your loans or finding cheaper insurance options can save you thousands of dollars in the long run, in fact a recent study found that a property buyer shopping around for a $1 million home loan with a 20 per cent deposit can save more than $6800 in annual repayments by choosing between the cheapest and most expensive variable rate on offer, analysis of rates reveals. On top of this you may also get greater flexibility and security.
- Consolidate your super
It is important to consolidate super funds as each fund has fixed costs. With one fund, you are paying only a single set of fixed costs. It is also important to not just consolidate to any old fund, as super fund performances differ more than you think.
If you are with an underperforming fund you could be retiring on tens of thousands of dollars less than if you were in a fund that performs better.
- Consider your Super contributions
There is effectively 6 months left to maximise contributions including up to the deductible limit of $25,000, Non concessional, Spouse and Co Contributions. Once 30 June arrives a new year for contributions will begin and opportunities may be lost particularly if your incomes change
- Start looking at investment options
With banks currently offering at best 1-1.5% for term deposits, to get the best possible returns on your money it is important to start looking at different investment options to maximise your returns.
A number of options exist, and it is important to start exploring all options that may suit you best. At MASU we have a number of first mortgage offerings available throughout the year that can see returns as high as 10% p.a.
To discuss or review your position leading as you enter the new year please contact Martin Speiser at Martin.Speiser@masu.com.au