Episode Details

Today's episode is the 3rd and final look at the most common financial mistakes I come across when advising clients. Thanks for your comments and feedback on the previous 2 posts, it seems that many of you have battled with some of these issues yourselves, and there were a few other mistakes that you've managed to make that, whilst being proud of them is perhaps not quite right, they are certainly something good for a laugh well after the fact. I've got 5 more for you today, so let's dive in and help you avoid the most common financial mistakes. In episode 9 we looked at Jenny's story, where her husband suffered pancreatic cancer and was without any personal insurance. They had looked into obtaining personal insurance, and indeed Jenny had done so, but he took the "I'm tough as nails, it'll never happen to me" attitude, to the detriment of their family. So the next common financial mistake I see is people not having appropriate personal insurance. There are 4 types of personal insurance, and I've got explanations for what they each do in the Toolkit for this episode, so be sure to go to the financial autonomy web site and download that. But in summary, the 4 types of insurance available are Life insurance, Total & Permanent Disability, Income Protection, and Trauma. Now if money was no object you would ideally have a package that includes all 4 of these. But for most people, there is a need to balance the ideal with the realities of their budget. The crucial thing though is to review your needs, and make a conscious decision as to what cover you will hold. Personal insurance is very customisable, so there is usually a solution available that can manage your risk, whilst also fitting within your budget. Too often, people get some default life cover within their super fund, and give no thought to whether it is actually fit for purpose. And they just never even look into Income Protection and Trauma cover. Personal insurance is applicable to us all during our working lives, but especially if you have a mortgage and children, it's just so crucial that you sit down with someone and put together a package that makes sense for you and your family. Remember, as we saw in Jenny's case, the implications of you not having insurance are far broader than just you. Another common financial mistake that I see is not having goals. In episode 10 – is your ladder against the wrong wall? , we looked at the popular SMART goals acronym as a process to flesh out your goals. Once again, I've included detail on this process in the free downloadable toolkit. Sir Edmund Hillary, the great Kiwi, didn't get to the top of Everest with Tenzing Norgay by just going out for a stroll and happening to find himself at the summit. He set himself a goal, and then went about planning how he would achieve it. I really like this quote from him: You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things -- to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals. You don't have to be a hero to reach your Financial Autonomy dreams either. You just need to set your goals, develop a plan that will get you there, and then get started. If you're a home owner, you likely have equity in that home. This represents the portion of the asset that is yours, once the mortgage is cleared. So for instance if your home was worth $1 million, and you had a mortgage on it of $600,000, then your equity is $400,000. If the house was sold, and the debt paid off, you'd have $400,000 in your pocket in very simple terms. Over time, as you pay-off your mortgage, and as hopefully the value of y