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Oosh, you’re ready to take control of your finances. Good on ‘ya!
The content on this site is organised into the steps below, which is a helpful way of visualising the steps needed.
The “Why”
Why do you want to get on top of your own finances? What is money holding you back from currently?
This could be anything. From the short term (eg. save for a deposit or a wedding) to the long term (early retirement and financial independence).
It is important to have this in mind when running through the next few steps, as the extent of your changes will be dependent on this goal.
A good goal needs to be SMART;
Specific
Measureable
Achievable
Realistic
Timebound
Personal Profit
If Income is more than Expenses, you’ve got yourself a Personal Profit (oorah!).
Once you get this bit right, the rest becomes a breeze!
The lengths that you’ll go to increase this will be influenced by your goal from the above section. If your goal is FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) at the age of 35 then you’ll need to be much more aggressive at this stage than someone who has a goal to save £20k for a house in 5 years’ time.
We split this section down into:
1. Where am I currently at?
How healthy is your current Personal Profit? Where does your money go? How much debt do I have? These are all critical questions to ask yourself at the start of this journey.
2. Saving
The lowest hanging fruit in improving your financial position revolves around saving.
3. Boosting income.
Remember, Personal Profit = Income – Expenses. Expenses only have a certain amount of upside as you can only cut them by a certain amount (I’ve still gotta eat bro?!), however, Income is nearly limitless.
4. Tracking Progress.
Seeing the impact of the changes and progress you’re making is like sprinkling rocket fuel onto your motivation. Tracking your progress is so important in finding out what does or does not work for you.
Invest
With the Personal Profit you have now created, you can start to invest. This is where the magic happens and where things really start to snowball.
Wanna see what I mean?
– You can start to pay off debt, which means you get hit with lower and lower interest payments. Lower interest payments and lower repayments mean a higher Personal Profit. A higher Personal Profit means more available to Invest.
– You can use your Personal Profit to invest in the stock market. Using the power of compounded returns, you’ll soon have your money working for you.
– You can use your Personal Profit to invest in a rental property. You benefit from additional monthly income from renting out the property and also benefit from any price increases (not to mention the fact your tenant is paying down your mortgage for you).
Get enough invested in productive assets, and your options truly open up as you will be earning without having to actively work.
Don’t mistake passive income from investments to be easy though, the reality is quite the opposite!
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