The First 10 Things I Would Do To Get My Finances In Order

The order YOU do these in will depend on your own personal circumstances and Wealth Profile.

1. Get into financial integrity

Learn to live within your means and within a budget. How low can you get your monthly expenses and how can you get them covered by income producing activities in 1-4 days a week or less? This leaves the remainder of your time, your most precious asset, for your own wealth creation. This means creating a spreadsheet of your income and expenditure, monitoring it monthly, increasing income and reducing expenses to widen the gap between the two for making investments. That’s the way to financial freedom, widening the gap and putting that sum of money into passive income-producing assets.

2. Think about pensions

How old are you and are you in a job? Start as young as possible to contribute to a pension but only if you are employed and your employer at least matches your contribution. If you are older and/or self-employed or running your own business there are probably better things we can do to create a pension for you. Do you have a stalled or dormant pension, perhaps from a previous job? Find out the transfer value and let’s get it into a SIPP and start to make your own investment decisions with those funds. No-one will look after your money quite like you. Perhaps you thought you couldn’t touch your pension? You can’t benefit from it until you reach retirement age but you can take control of the funds and protect them. The earlier you start this, the sooner you can retire. Do not make the mistake we all do, of thinking it will be YEARS until you are old and that pensions are not sexy. They are. Let me show you how.

3. Buy your own home

Think you can’t afford to? Let me show you innovative ways of getting on the property ladder. If you are already a homeowner, leverage your equity and buy a second property. If you live in the UK, there is probably nothing which will create greater wealth for you. Yes, I know this is a controversial viewpoint. If I could just persuade everyone I meet to buy at least one more property, I will die a happy woman. This can be done for you if you are busy or afraid you don’t know enough.

4. Get out of bad debt

If you have credit cards and retail debt, I can show you how to repay them faster than you ever dreamed possible. Step one is to stop using them and set up standing orders for a fixed amount to pay down the balance while living off switch instead, see 1 above about getting into Financial Integrity first. You will never do this if you cannot live without over-spending. I know this sounds dull, but imagine a day with no bad debt! I can show you how to achieve that – FAST. See Mary Hunt under No 10.

5. Read up about compounding

When we look at various investment, pension and savings opportunities, initially they may appear dull because the returns look very small at the outset. But if you set up the right savings vehicles and leave the interest in the account compounding, after four years the sums of money start to increase exponentially and very quickly turning into larger and larger sums. No compounding vehicle, whatever the initial sum invested, goes gangbusters for the first four years. That’s not very long – slightly longer than we are at college or University, for example.

6. Start a part-time business in your spare bedroom in your spare time, create that spare time

Most people will never get rich in a job, however much you may love that job. If you are already self-employed or in business, learn how to make that a wealth creation activity, not just exchanging hourly paid time for money. If you ARE getting rich in a job, you are probably very time poor so steps 1 and 4 may still apply to you. Passive income can be created for you by trusted professional companies I can demonstrate who they are. Beware the unscrupulous ones, they do exist. But don’t allow their existence to put you off investigating these opportunities.

7. Find out how to achieve astronomical rates on your savings, according to your risk profile

At the time of writing, the Bank of England base rate is 0.5% but I know people who will pay you 8-12% guaranteed on your savings and even up to 17% if you are prepared to take more of a risk. This is vital for people living off investment income or savings.   Let me point you in a choice of directions and help you evaluable each of them.

8. Leverage everything you have to get it working harder for you

Consider drawingdown on your equity for certain investments, spread your risk, borrow as cheaply as possible, educate yourself about investment evaluation, it’s not nearly as difficult as it sounds. Be interested in your own money and wealth. No-one will ever care as much as you. Find advisers who speak a language you understand and who consistently prove good returns on your money.

9. Find out about alternative investments, innovative investments, tax freedom, forex, online trading

There will be a series of opportunities which makes the best of what you have, how much time you have available. There are even passive solutions where others will invest and trade for you, frequently tax-free. We need to know your Wealth Profile so we can find out what sort of investments and part-time activities will suit you best.

10. Take a real interest. Find out more. Learn. Here are my top recommended resources:

Take Your Wealth Profile costing $100, send me the results and get free admission to my Money-Making Magic Google Group for online group coaching and community.

Learn to play Rich Dad’s Cashflow 101 game – check out their online version and/or Google to discover where you can join a local game. Practise regularly, at least once a month for a year.

Get out of debt with Mary Hunt’s Debt Proof Living book and website, check out her Rapid Debt Repayment Calculator (RDRC)

Read profusely and attend seminars, many of which are free or allow access for a very small donation to charity. Be somewhat wary of these; they are designed to sell you something you will end up wanting to buy. Check for cooling-off periods in their terms and conditions as you sign. And you will sign!

11. Bonus Tip

Clear your clutter in every possible way: emotional, physical, spiritual, bodily, headspace, in-tray, in-box. Get rid of everything in your house and office you do not find to be beautiful or useful. Get everything filed and tidied away. Get friends to help you with this if necessary or pay a professional clutter-clearer. Donate to charity shops, take it to the dump, sell it on eBay or at a boot fair. Just get rid of all your clutter. Strip it away and get clear to take action. Many, many clients I meet have so much junk in their lives that nothing new or good can ever come into it until they create a space for that, until they create a vacuum by clearing the out all the old stuff which is comforting, makes you feel safe or just fogs up your thinking and prevents action. This includes emotions if you cannot think clearly. This includes anything you do to fill up your life like people-pleasing, watching TV, surfing the web endlessly to no profit and addictive habits and relationships. It stops here – if you are brave enough.