Money management

To effectively manage your money, you’ll need to know what your income and expenses are.

Income is generally pretty easy to calculate from wage slips and bank statements. Personal expenses however are often more difficult to predict. Things to calculate include:

• Household bills: electricity, water, gas
• Residential expenses: rent, or mortgage repayments, body corporate fees, council rates
• Communications expenses: mobile phones, internet, extra data
• Insurance: health, car, home & contents, income protection etc
• Living expenses: food, transport, clothing, weekly shopping
• Entertainment: movies, theatre, cable tv, events
• Recreation activities: sports fees, club memberships, classes, consumables
• Medical expenses
• Travel and holiday expenses
• Transport: car, fuel, car registration, licence fees

There are tools to help with this – apps that allow you to record every $ you spend on your phone.

For many people, the total weekly expenses come as a bit of a surprise.

But once you know what your expenses are, and what you can afford on your income, it’s easier to budget, and to know what you can put away each week to help you reach your goals.

Your super is your money. Just because you might not be able to access it until you retire, it doesn’t mean you should just ignore it. You should learn where your super is and how it’s invested by your super fund.

Many Australian adults have more than one super account – often some they don’t even know about. That’s why it’s important to find any lost super you may have.

It also generally makes sense to consolidate your super into one account. That way you can avoid paying two or more sets of fees and costs.

As well as choosing which fund your super is invested with, it’s wise to know how it’s invested, and that it matches your retirement goals.

Some people prefer a conservative approach with minimal risk, while others want to see their nest egg grow more quickly, even if that involves a higher risk. Of course, in most cases, it’s possible to split your super investments over a number of options. You can find more information on your Industry SuperFund’s website.

Here are some more tips for boosting your super.

It’s important to work out what money you owe. Some debts, such as a mortgage, are not necessarily bad if they’re working in your favour and providing a potential for growth that exceeds the interest and fees you’re paying.

Other debts, such as credit cards are not so good. They often have high interest rates, annual fees, penalties for late payment and are often used to buy goods and services that don’t increase in value. Therefore, try to pay off your credit card and store cards as soon as possible.

If you’re worried about your level of debt, or you need help to repay money owing, there are organisations that can help you set up a program, and even negotiate with companies to set up a repayment plan.

If you find you have extra funds on hand, it’s often a good idea to invest them. There are many different options for investment, ranging from opening a term deposit at a bank to investing in shares, property or bonds and even topping up your super.

If you don’t have the skills for investing and understand the various tax benefits involved, it’s worthwhile getting independent financial advice and set up an investment plan.

As our lives change – from starting our first job, to starting a family or enjoying an empty nest – the people who rely on us change as well. That’s why it’s good to regularly check your insurance cover for:

• Health
• Home and contents
• Car
• Income protection
• Total & Permanent Disability (TPD) and/or death
• Business

The insurance you originally signed up for, and possibly just roll-over each year, may no longer suit your needs. You may be paying for things you no longer need, or alternatively, you may be underinsured, which can be even worse.

While most Australians have health and car insurance, many do not have adequate home and contents insurance – and even fewer have adequate income protection insurance or death and TPD insurance.

Industry SuperFunds offer Income Protection, TPD and death insurance cover at competitive rates. See more information in our insurance section.