Financial Planning

The 10 main reasons why you are probably not financially secure… yet

Regardless of who we are and where we come from, most of us are not yet where we would like to be financially, and listed below are perhaps some of the reasons why:

1) You spend money as though you are already rich

It makes us feel good to buy expensive items, but even if we don’t necessarily buy pricey items, but still consistently purchase ‘things’ we don’t really need, then the bills soon mount up.

2) You don’t have a plan

As we like to say in the financial services industry: ‘those who fail to plan, plan to fail’. Without clearly defined short, mid and long-term goals, financial security will be unattainable for you.

3) You don’t have an emergency fund

Sooner or later we are all met with an unplanned expense, which normally arrives out of nowhere. Standard advice is that we should all have the equivalent of 3 – 6 months’ income easily available to meet these emergencies, but how many of us do?

4) You started late

Time and compound interest are the friend of the saver, and the longer you leave it, the harder it is to accumulate a reasonable amount of money. Just like exercising, the hardest part of saving is starting, and then making it a life-time habit.

5) You would rather complain than commit

“I can’t afford it.” “I’ll never get out of debt.” The excuses we like to use are endless, and we are all guilty of using them. Rather than complain and make excuses, take responsibility for your bad habits and focus on what you can do to change them. Then do it.

6) You live for today in spite of tomorrow

Yes, we all agree that it is hard to think about the ‘future’, or ‘retirement’ when the bills are piling up; but realistically, do we have an alternative? Do yourself a favour and ditch the ‘buy now, worry later’ mindset, and adopt a ‘save now, get rich later’ mindset.

7) You are a one-trick investor

One of the worst financial mistakes any of us can make is...