One good financial decision will have positive consequences. But five good decisions in a row will be life changing. It will create a lot more than five times the positive outcomes than one good decision will. That’s because good decisions are a compounding asset.
Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made - Wayne Dyer.
When it comes to building wealth and fulfilling your lifestyles goals, true success comes when you master all six facets: (1) good cash flow management, (2) having a clear and efficient investment strategy, (3) invest in the right assets using the right methodologies, (4) optimising superannuation, (5) minimising tax and (6) protecting your assets for your family’s benefit.
We all know that to achieve a good level of health requires us to focus on optimising our diet, exercise regularly and get plenty of quality sleep. We also realise that we will not achieve our full potential (health wise) by just focusing on only one of these factors. Optimising your finances is the same – a holistic approach yields the best results, which takes several good decisions.
Here are some examples of some good financial decisions you can make.
(a) stop wasting your money
Money is wasted on things that don’t improve your standard of living. The key here is to make conscious financial decisions. If you aren’t conscious about your expenditure, your money will be wasted on things that you really don’t care about.
Holidays are a very good example of conscious expenditure. We tend to get a lot of happiness and satisfaction from holidays. They creates long-lasting memories. And if we stopped spending money on holidays, we’d really miss it.
However, buying takeaway coffee is a good example of unconscious expenditure. They are nice to have, but if you are able to make yourself a cup of coffee at work, you probably won’t miss it. These small expenses tend to add up to a surprising amount. Two takeaway coffees per day might end up costing you more than $10,000 per year! That is more than one investment property’s holding costs!
It is pretty simple to implement good cash flow practices, and it doesn’t have to be a painful process. The fact is that you won’t miss spending money in wasteful items.
This blog last year walks you through a simple structure many of my clients use with great success.
(b) invest in the right assets
I believe investing is easy if you stick to sound fundamentals, only adopt evidence-based strategies and never watch the news or read newspapers. That is why I wrote
Investopoly – to provide a set of rules, a framework, to guide people down the right path and avoid making financial mistakes.
What you invest in (the asset), and which methodology you chose to adopt, will determine your future returns. In a way, your destiny is determined when the initial decision is made . It only takes one decision to buy the right property or to seek advice. Once that decision is made, its merely a matter of waiting a decade or two for the results to materialise. These ‘decisions’ are incredibly important to get 100% right.
(c) ask for help
Two points. Firstly, you don’t know what you don’t know. Secondly, experience is far more important than knowledge. You can fast track knowledge, but there are no shortcuts with experience. Experience tells you how and when to apply knowledge – you need both to avoid making mistakes.
Therefore, the question is, do you want to make your own mistakes or pay someone that
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Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
