Have you written a personal financial register, listing your super and non-super investments, your other assets, your income and any debts?
This fundamental task for managing your personal finances, investing and saving for retirement would often be left on a must-do-tomorrow list – and perhaps never done.
Behavioural economists typically rank investor inertia and procrastination high among behavioural traits that are enemies of investment success. And never getting around to preparing a personal financial register would often be part of that inertia.
A personal financial register – updated as your circumstances change – is critical for a range of personal financial issues. These include saving for retirement, preparing a personal financial plan, setting your portfolio’s asset allocation, controlling your spending and estate planning:
- Preparing a financial plan: A good starting point for preparing a comprehensive financial plan, perhaps with the guidance of an adviser, is to prepare a personal financial register. You can then make more informed and realistic decisions – including about your long-term goals, targeted returns and tolerance to risk – for your financial plan.
- Setting your portfolio’s asset allocation: An up-to-date list of your super and non-super investments is necessary to set an appropriate asset allocation for your portfolio. Repeated research, including by Vanguard, shows that a diversified portfolio’s strategic asset allocation – the proportions of its assets in different asset classes – is the main cause of variations in its long-term returns.
- Keeping your personal spending under control: A basic rule for investment success is to try to spend less than you make so as to have money left over to invest. An accurate personal financial register should help you to take a realistic approach to spending given your income and assets.
- Saving for retirement: A financial register is necessary for estimating how much you will need to save for retirement. You can then plan how to save to meet your savings goals.
- Spending in retirement: Without a personal financial register in place at the eve of retirement, retirees may have a poor understanding of how far their financial resources will stretch. This may lead to overspending or being too frugal given the state of your finances. And you may miss opportunities to more efficiently manage your investments and spending in retirement.
- Estate planning: Having an up-to-date personal financial register is a central part of estate planning together with such tasks as making a Will and nominating beneficiaries for your super savings. A financial register should give you and, eventually, your intended beneficiaries a better understanding of your finances.
As Smart Investing has discussed, the last baby boomers celebrate their 70th birthday within the next 15 years as a growing proportion of the population reaches old age. This should underline the need to save for retirement and for estate planning – and that should include having a personal financial register.
Get in touch
If you’d like to find out more about any of the above opportunities, then please get in touch.
We’d be more than happy to run through your financial situation with you to ensure you’re making the most of your superannuation accounts.
If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.
At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.
Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth
Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure
Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.
Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL holder No 509305.