The start of July and the new financial year can be a timely reminder to check in on your financial goals and well-being.
Here’s a four-point checklist for the new financial year:
- Revisit your financial goals
- Rethink risk
- Reassess insurance needs and coverage
- Review super contributions.
Revisit your financial goals
Most people will have a mix of short-, medium- and long-term financial goals. This could be anything from taking an overseas holiday next year to buying a house or investment property or saving for retirement.
Often these goals or time frames might be affected by a significant change in your life, like getting married, having a baby, buying your first home, or a sickness in the family, meaning your priorities change.
Checking in with how your circumstances have changed over the past 12 months can help ensure you have the right strategies to allow you to reach those goals within the timeframe you set.
Rethink risk
As your life changes, how much investment risk you want to take on may too. For example, if you are early on in your career and have a long time before you can access your super, you may decide the time is right to try and maximise your investment returns by accepting more risk.
Alternatively, if something has happened in your life to make you more risk averse – say because your partner has had to give up work for some reason – then you may decide that it is better to reduce the level of risk in your overall portfolio.
However, the important thing in assessing risk levels during a regular review is considering how changing the risk in your portfolio will likely affect your chances of achieving your goals on time.
It’s important to understand that changing risk levels may also necessitate changing your goals or timeframes.
Beyond investment risk, it is also worthwhile to consider whether any changes in your life over the past year have changed the amount and type of insurance you will likely need.
Reassess insurance needs and coverage
While you may get into the habit of paying your insurance premiums when they arrive, the new financial year often brings changes in those premiums. It is a good time to take stock of your insurance and ensure you are not under or over-insured.
Review super contributions
Weighing up ‘extra super contributions’ or ‘extra mortgage repayments’ is something that many people grapple with at various times. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to which is best. And even if you find the right solution for you at a point in time, that may change as interest rates and expected returns for your super move around or your pay and the income tax bracket you fall into change.
Depending on your circumstances, you might pay less tax when you put extra into your super via salary sacrifice.
But you should be aware there are caps on how much you can put into your super before tax and continue to receive the concessional rate. The ATO website is the best place to view the most up-to-date information about these limits.
Get expert advice
When it comes to your goals for your super and beyond, the Vision Super financial advisers take the time to understand who you are and what’s important to you. So whether you want to grow your super faster or plan your retirement, they can help.
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Depending on the nature and extent of the advice provided to you, advice fees may apply – but we’ll always discuss this with you before starting work.
