The Money Game – who’s to blame?
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It should be an easy game……right? But for many of us, that’s just not the case.
One example – recent clients I was meeting for the first time, a couple with 2 kids. The husband also had teenagers from a previous marriage.
Their reason for seeking a meeting was to discuss the option of creating a self-managed super fund.
It didn’t take long for me to realise that this couple was struggling financially despite the fact that he was on nearly $180,000 and she was also working 3-4 days a week.
It was obvious that they really didn’t have a good grasp of their financial health.
They also wanted to buy a house but their only real means of getting a deposit together was to draw to the max on their credit cards and use the very little money they had in a savings account.
They had already been to see a mortgage broker who had obtained pre approval on a set amount of borrowings for a house.
Can anybody see the problem here?
They didn’t have an understanding of where they were spending their money.
They didn’t take any responsibility for their budget – in fact they didn’t work to a budget.
They didn’t understand that although they had been approved for a mortgage, it really wasn’t a great idea for them at this particular time.
Now, going back to their original enquiry about having a self-managed super fund – is this appropriate for people who exhibited such a lackadaisical attitude to their own finances? Perhaps not!
A self-managed super fund is not for everyone.
Trustees of self-managed super funds come under very strict regulations …….. etc etc
Was their financial situation their fault?
Well, yes.
He was paying high maintenance payments to his ex-wife and yes, I can see how that makes life harder, but what they missed is their lack of taking responsibility over their own spending.
“Lack of taking responsibility over their own spending”
Is this unusual?
No, sadly, it’s not!
Who is to blame?
- The education system for not teaching us from an early age the value of budgeting?
- The “free” and easy access to money via loans and credit cards?
- A system that promotes an attitude that “it’s not my fault”?
But hey! Take responsibility for your own actions!
Nobody is spending your money but you!
So, where do you start with a budget?
The website below has a great Excel spreadsheet version and I give it to all my clients, new or existing. The only trick is to make sure that when entering your income and expenditure that you use the same time frame i.e. do everything in weekly or monthly amounts to avoid confusion.
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps/budget-planner
Budgeting is the very foundation of building wealth.
Think about this simple quote on budgeting.
“… if you buy the things you want, you will not have the money available for the things you need… “ Clay Clark, founder of Thrive15.com
Steven Hallam
(HF Strategies Pty Ltd ATF Hallam Family Trust ABN 32 890 103 909) is an authorised representative of Professional Investment Services Pty Ltd (Nr.287522).
AFSL 234951 ABN 11 074 608 558
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