The end of the financial year is a timely reminder to plan your financial future for the new financial year. Please take the time to reflex on your past financial decisions and how going forward you may make better decisions.
Why should you plan your Financial Future at the Start of a New Financial Year?
This is the perfect opportunity for you to reflect on your past decisions. It is very important to take the time to prepare your Tax Return as close as possible to the start of the new financial year. Apart from receiving your Tax Rebate, there are many other advantages. Note that if you find you actually owe money, then you can delay when you submit the Tax Return.
The advantages of completing your Tax Return early are can:
- Review your savings progress and plan to remedy any changes required.
- Ensure that as the year progresses, you have an organized means of filing your invoices and receipts. This should be in an electronic format so that it is easy to send all the relevant information to your accountant in a timely manner.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Benjamen Franklin is attributed with making this famous statement back in 1790. More than ever, it is still true today. When financial goals are not set and acted on, you are unlikely to achieve those goals.
Rather than saving what is left over at the end of the week, set a dollar value for your investment savings and deposit this into your savings account.
It is also important that you have a debt reduction plan and ensure that you can reduce your debts in a timely manner. Usually, this will involve, removing any personal loans or credit card debts first and having a future plan to save for these personal expenses. Paying down the loans with the highest interest rate will save you the most in loan costs, provided there are no penalties for early repayment,
Most importantly is that you have a drawdown plan of your investments and superannuation in your retirement. You need to ensure that by retirement you will have sufficient funds to provide you with the lifestyle you want in your latter years. I suggest you plan on living to age 95 but make sure you have a little more in reserve in case you live longer.
Financial Mappers is the perfect tool to create a financial plan
Financial Mappers has created a version specifically for the consumer to use. This version does not give financial advice. It allows you to create a financial plan for any length of time from 5 years to 50 years. The software will estimate your future financial projections based on the information you provide.
This information is then collated to provide over 20 reports you can generate.
This software is the same that financial advisers use to create financial plans with Financial Mappers, but does not have the features that an adviser requires to manage all their clients. This is not simple software, and it will require you some time to learn how to use it. This will be time well spent in the long run.
Financial Mappers includes a financial literacy program, together with an extensive Help Manual and Tutorials for the various areas of creating a financial plan.
The cost of Financial Mappers is $347 for the first year’s subscription followed by an annual subscription of $29.95 if you wish to continue using the software after the first year. There is a 7-day money-back guarantee if you do not find the software meets your needs. Of course, you can always contact Support if you have any questions.
Please watch this video “Make a Financial Plan”.
Glenis Phillips SF Fin – Designer of Financial Mappers
Further Reading
Check out these additional articles I have found for you
- The Importance of Making an Annual Financial Plan – Investopedia
- 6 Reasons Why You Need a Financial Plan – Synovus Personal Resource Centre
Disclaimer: Financial Mappers does not have an Australian Services License, does not offer financial planning advice, and does not recommend financial products.
