Flourish Health & Wellbeing Magazine - Mar 24 - Flipbook - Page 73
How do I calculate my financial fitness?
There are 10 ques琀椀ons. You get one point for each ques琀椀on you answer yes to.
Does your income exceed your expenses?
If your savings are growing over 琀椀me and you’re not borrowing money from family or
friends, give yourself a point.
Do you have an ‘emergency fund’ of at least $1,000?
If your bank balance is almost always above $1,000, give yourself another point.
Do you have an ‘emergency fund’ of 3 - 6 months of living expenses?
Ideally this would be 3-6 months of your usual living expenses, but 3-6 months of
bare bone living expenses is also good to aim for.
Do you have no high interest debt?
This includes a car loan, personal loan and credit cards (unless you pay your credit
card o昀昀 in full every month).
Do you know where your money goes?
Most people think they know where their money goes, but the reality is unless
you have analysed past spending, you’re just guessing.
Do you have some kind of investment, apart from Super?
If you have an investment property, shares and/or managed funds then give
yourself a point.
Do you have written financial goals?
Key word - wri琀琀en. Most of us have goals but few of us write them down. Research
shows that wri琀椀ng them down increases the chance you will achieve them!
Do you have a plan to achieve those goals & know if you’re on track?
Once you’ve decided on some big goals, work out what small ac琀椀ons you need to take.
Have you insured your greatest asset?
Is it your house or your car? No! It’s likely your ability to earn an income. We don’t
hesitate to insure our cars, but few insure the person driving. Mul琀椀ply how much
you earn by how many years you have le昀琀 un琀椀l re琀椀rement. The number can be
pre琀琀y mind blowing!
Have you calculated your net worth in the last 12 months?
Your net worth is simply all your assets (everything you own), minus your liabili琀椀es
(everything you owe). The resul琀椀ng number may be a posi琀椀ve or a nega琀椀ve number.