Financial wellbeing. What is it?

Financial wellbeing. What is it?

Health and wellbeing is, quite rightly, big news right now. We’re encouraged to eat healthily, take regular exercise, sleep properly, and focus on our mental health. These are, of course, all very worthwhile things to do and help us lead a happy, fulfilled life, free of stress and worry. However, what’s not talked about so much, but is probably as important, is financial wellbeing.

So, what exactly is financial wellbeing? Well, put simply, it’s about feeling in control of your finances, and knowing that you’ve got enough money to do the day-to-day things, and having the freedom to make financial choices while still enjoying life. A good situation to be in, basically.

How you do that depends on your personality and attitude to money. For example, saving as much as you can towards retirement, or your first home, or in-case you’re suddenly made redundant, might be what matters to you the most. But for someone else, seeing the world is what gives them pleasure, so they put all their spare pennies towards that.

It doesn’t really matter what the financial goals you’re aiming for are. It’s more important that you have one (or several) and know what you need to do to achieve it.

It could be easier than you think

There’s no magic formula to finding financial wellbeing. It’s more about developing habits that’ll stand you in good stead when thinking about money, and what you want to do with it. These behaviours aren’t difficult to follow, so let’s look at some of the easier ones. You’re probably doing a lot of them already.

Spend less than you earn - sounds simple, but many people get this wrong. Just because you want something now doesn’t mean you should have it.

Save what you can - with so many ways you can put spare cash away nowadays, there’s no excuse for not saving.

Be tax efficient - have a financial advisor look over your situation to make sure you’re making the most of the tax advantages out there.

Live on less - it’s tempting to spend more as you earn more, but if you set yourself an amount to live on every month, you can put that extra income in your investments.

Look after what you’ve got – consider if you’ve got enough insurance to cover yourself, your property and your investments. If the worst happened, would you be okay?

Other factors you can’t always control come into play with financial wellbeing too, like interest rates, house prices and job security. Major events can affect it too, such as political instability and societal issues. These can appear to make it more difficult to think about and achieve your own financial wellbeing, but it’s important to stay focussed on the bigger picture and follow the same rules.

If you’d like help with your financial wellbeing, please get in touch. We understand your financial needs are unique, so we’ll talk about your situation, and let you know how you can reach your financial goals in a way that’s right for you.