Have your financial plan and holiday too

What were their challenges?

Mike and Beckie had a great income but seemed to be living paycheck to paycheck. They had investment properties but with high levels of debt (both investment loans and home loan). They wanted to continue to enjoy their lifestyle and take regular holidays while they are still young and healthy but also wanted to make sure they were paying off their debt and growing their wealth for the future.

Beckie found keeping on top of their accounts, income and expenses stressful and confusing, especially when annual bills fell due or unexpected costs (e.g. dentist bills) came up.

What did they overcome?

With reduced interest costs on loans and by creating a budget which allowed for lifestyle and holiday expenses, we still wanted to target reducing their loan balances. This financial advice experience lead to them understanding and managing their accounts and cash flow better.

How did I help?

I provided a real time snapshot on their current situation, especially around their income and expenses. Once their actual expenditure was known, we worked together to set target amounts for different areas in their lives to ensure their essentials were provided for, as well as allocating amounts for holidays and lifestyle enjoyment.

With that initial financial advice, I helped them to implement it, kept them on track, and was on hand to tweak the plan as required.

We had regular meetings to adjust anything and to re-evaluate what was important at the time and to amend the plan to cater for new or adjusted goals as they came up.

What did they learn that I can share?

Breaking down goals into stages can help what seems impossible achievable. Automate as much as possible with regular transfers for fixed expenses means there is less to think about on a day to day basis and you won’t get caught out or stressed by annual bills.