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Managing your money is a lifelong journey. When you’ve mastered the basics like budgeting and saving, you are ready to take the next steps on the road to financial independence. Here are 5 ways you can take your finances to the next level in 2025!
1. Get the most out of your financial adviser
Your financial adviser can do more than just recommend products. They have the experience and skills to help you protect and grow your wealth. Services they offer include:
- A detailed financial plan to ensure you have enough money invested for retirement and other savings goals and can leave a legacy for your children and grandchildren
- A budget review including an objective opinion on where you can save and cut expenses
- An insurance review, for example do you have enough life and funeral cover, and should you consider disability insurance
Be prepared to pay for these services, just as you would pay a healthcare professional or DIY expert!
2. Take responsibility for your investments
Saving and investing monthly is just the start - you need to do more to make your money work for you. Ask your adviser these tough questions:
- What am I invested in and why is it appropriate for my financial needs and goals?
- What are the costs, including all the different fees such as admin and advice fees, and how do these costs affect my investment return?
- Are my investments beating inflation?
- Do I pay tax on my investment growth when I withdraw an investment, and how is that tax calculated and paid?
- Am I invested in products that minimise my exposure to tax such as tax-free savings accounts and retirement annuities?
3. Be prepared to make tough decisions
There may be some backlash from your family, but in the interests of responsible financial planning you might need to make tough financial decisions, for example:
- Selling a family car and car-pooling or using public transport
- Downsizing to a smaller home
- Taking shorter or no holidays unless you can find extra funds
- Changing your children’s schools to those where the fees are more affordable
- Saying no to the kids!
You might not be popular, but you will be setting an important example for your children about living within your means and making responsible financial decisions.
4. Be firm with family members
You love your family, but they shouldn't be a drain on your finances! Explain your financial situation upfront and what you can and cannot afford to give. When it comes to help for ageing parents, explain how and when you can assist and what is outside your budget.
5. Level up on your estate planning
Getting a valid, signed will is the first step you need to take, but not the only one. You also need to:
- Name a guardian for your children that can care for them when you are no longer around.
- Set up a trust for minor children if they are inheriting any assets or are beneficiaries on a life insurance policy or retirement fund. Minors cannot be paid an inheritance until they reach 18 years of age.
- Make use of the expert estate planning services offered by either your financial adviser or a fiduciary professional, or use the services offered by the Truth About Money’s Wills and Estate Benefit. Truth About Money is a 1Life Insurance initiative.
Top tip: speak to your family about your estate plans, where your will is kept, and who the executor is, so they know what to do when you pass.
Give yourself time
You’ve come so far in your journey to financial independence, and now you're ready to take the next steps. Don’t try to tackle all of these points at once, address one at a time and give yourself the space to learn and grow; as well as make mistakes. Remember that managing your money is a lifelong journey, and you will never stop learning and growing!