Manage Your Money

Do you care about your financial condition? You have worked so hard for it. It will be a waste if you do not take care of your financial future.

How did your finances shape up at the end of the tax year? Are you in a better financial position now than 12 months ago? Have your assets increased in value? Are you earning more money? If you answered “Yes” to these questions, that is great.

If you answered “No”, then perhaps it is time to take stock of where you are now financially and look at how you can enhance your current situation.

Put things in order.

Most people have no systems for handling this most important area. The household paperwork is disorganized, piled up in a corner of the house somewhere. They have no idea how they spend their money and often have no plans for their financial future. If you do not organize your personal life you will not have the time and will not know how.

Do it now.

Here are several tips to get you started:

1. Set up a filing system to store your paper work.

2. File your papers in categories: Bank, car, children, home, medical, insurance, investment, tax, utilities and so on.

3. Organise direct debits for regular bills.

4. Read, sort and take action on your snail mail and e-mail daily. This will avoid a big build-up.

5. Make a note in your diary when you need to remember to do things.

6. Check your bank accounts weekly via the ATM or the Internet to keep tabs on your money.

7. Allocate a particular day and time each week to review your personal affairs.

8. Get educated – attend seminars, read books and listen to information on wealth creation. Having knowledge about wealth will make it easier to make decisions and take action.

9. If you have a proactive accountant or financial advisor, ask him or her what you can do to make the most and take action.

10. Review all your insurance policies to ensure you have adequate cover and are getting the best value for your dollar.

11. Record your income and expanses on a spreadsheet to gain a picture of where your money really goes.

Be proactive

Organizing your financial future should be top priority. If you do nothing because it is too much effort, well, think about this.

What would happen if you lose your job or have an accident and receive no income for six months?

How would you and your family survive financially? Do you have your insurance policies in order?

Where will you be in the next five years? Maybe retired and on a pension? Or, perhaps, you have a retirement fund you hope will be enough to live on?

Unfortunately, too many people are under false illusions about how this money will be the answer for a secure retirement.

Hope is not enough. You have to be proactive and seek out people who can help you.

But be careful whom you take advice from and what the motivation is behind their “selling” you their ideas or financial products.

Educating yourself on how to make the most of your hard-earned money so you can create wealth should be a priority. After all, if you are not interested in securing your financial future, who is?

If you take control of your personal affairs, you will have peace of mind and can look forward to a secure future.

Find out more how you can have financial freedom in http://www.wealthywinningwomen.com

Strait Times