A New Year is the perfect opportunity to take charge of your financial wellbeing. Take a moment to review the financial journey of the last year. What did you do right, where did you go wrong and what can you do to make changes for the year ahead.
Evaluate your finances: Before you can set financial goals it's essential to look at your current situation and see where you stand. Use our budget spreadsheet to get started with documenting your finances and keeping yourself accountable. What should be left after expenses each month and where is that going? Where can savings be made? Can you switch utility suppliers? Are you taking advantage of all available tax reliefs? Is there any way you can increase your income?
Back Up Plan: Have you been putting this on the long finger? What would happen today if you lost your job? Do you have an Emergency Fund set aside or would you struggle to pay the bills? What would happen if you got sick or injured? The State Illness Benefit would not go far enough for most people to keep them afloat. Make 2024 the year where you put protections in place for your money and your family.
Set Goals: What are your short term financial goals? Are there debts to be paid off, do you want to go on a holiday this year, buy furniture, big birthday coming up? Looking at the medium term, how will you afford your next car, are there any home improvements that you should be saving for? If you have kids, have you thought about a college fund for them; alot of parents are saving the Child Benefit towards this goal either straight into State Savings or investing. In the Long term; what does retirement look like for you and have you started saving enough in a pension?
Where to save in 2024? For Short Term Goals, Revolut Vaults is very handy for organising your money into different pots. For Emergency Fund this should go somewhere out of sight like the Credit Union. Any savings that aren't required in the next 5 years should be in an investment account where you can take advantage of growth assets and protect your money from inflation and low deposit rates. The Insurance companies in Ireland offer easy access savings plans for this purpose and we can help decide on the best option for your risk appetite.
You can download our budget spreadsheet from our homepage. If you need our help getting organised with your insurance, savings or pension feel free to reach out. Our Financial Planning consultation, The One Plan is really useful for a look at the big picture aswell.
Happy New Year and Best of Luck for 2024!
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