Financial planning is a journey, not a destination, a fact that is often forgotten when planning for your financial future in your 30s, according to Janine Horn, financial adviser at Momentum.
Horn said, “As you journey along your financial quest, there are certain milestones and concepts you need to embrace. Once those milestones are reached, the journey begins to look very similar to a financial rite of passage.”
“We all need to experience this in some way so that we become financially aware of the benefits of a sound financial plan.”
Horn shares the four quadrants in the Financial Wellness framework that people in their 30s need to know.
Protect me: Focusing on the loss of income, medical issues, and sudden disability
Support my family: Including my family’s medical expenses in the case of sudden death; ensure that I have a valid and executable will
Protect my assets: My belongings, etc.
Build my future: Family business, creating my wealth, providing for my retirement.
Sharon Moller, financial planning coach at Old Mutual Wealth said, “There are only a couple of things we can really control when it comes to managing our money, how we earn, how we spend and how we invest.”
“Whether that investment is in our self-development or in making sure that our future self will be financially protected in any eventuality that falls outside of that which we can control.”
Moller shares her top financial planning tips for someone in their thirties.
– Get clear on what you are planning for and how your money supports that plan.
– Make sure you speak with a financial planning professional (CFP) and preferably a lifestyle financial planner who has some coaching qualification or experience.
– Review your plan regularly because our view of life changes as we grow as individuals.
– Save as much as possible as soon as possible, even if it’s only R100 a month to begin with.
– Take a good look at your relationship with money.
Moller said that in your thirties it’s all about establishing your career, starting a family and finding your place in the world but it’s okay to invest in yourself too.
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