A New Financial Year

by Noel Whittaker

When every physical and mental resource is focussed, one’s power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously.
NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

Welcome to a new financial year. Apart from the fact that it seems to have come around so quickly, it does give us the perfect opportunity to take stock of where we are right now, and make plans for the next 12 months. Remember, the best map in the world is useless if you don’t know where you are, so start the process off by writing down your assets and your debts. This will give you a snapshot of your financial position now. Don’t fool yourself by including items such as furniture and personal effects, which seldom have any lasting value.

To speed up the trip to financial independence you need to maximise the return on your assets, which is why the aim of the exercise is to work out what to keep and what to get rid of. Time spent examining your assets and liabilities will repay you handsomely if you make the effort to look at each one critically. Once you know where you are, if you have a partner, sit down together, discuss your short-term and long-term goals, and make an action plan. Here are some thinking points.