Happy New Year 2024! Did you make any resolutions concerning your personal finances last year? If so, how did that go? What about your new year’s resolutions this year? Many people tend to set goals for themselves, what they hope to achieve, their wishes and aspirations for the year. The start of the year cycle is a great time to plan for the things you want to achieve personally and financially. At AKPK, we are ready to assist you in that journey.
Conducting an annual financial checklist helps to keep track of your progress and makes it easier to see which tasks have been completed and which you still need to tackle. Financial checklist should be able to give you an overview on your financial health as well. You need to do an annual checklist so that you don’t forget something important that you should be monitoring such as your savings or emergency fund. What about your investment portfolio? Are your investment giving you returns as expected? It is important to check off all the items on the checklist to ensure you are in charge of your finances and achieve peace of mind.
You can review your financial checklist based on a financial plan that have been set in place. Your financial checklist should include the following:
1. Review of financial plans of the previous years – are you satisfied with how things are moving? Review your financial plan updates as well as net worth statements to get a better idea of where you stand financially.
2. Setting new goals – do you have significant events happening in 2024? Consider life-changing events that will considerably impact your financial situation such as getting married or starting a new job, relocating elsewhere, sending child to college or perhaps retiring.
3. Analyse your financial checklist – that includes assessing your cash flow statements,
savings, protection plans, loans as well as tax planning.
4. Developing a plan on how to achieve your goals in 2024 – realign your finances to
meet your goals.
5. Execute the plans, and
6. Monitor and review (done annually).
These steps may seem simple but require in-depth preparation in each part, and if done right, it can be impactful and meaningful in helping you achieve your goals.
To help with financial checklist planning, you can carry out a de-cluttering exercise to help improve expenses and financial standing such as:
1. Listing out things as necessities and non-necessities so you are able to prioritise and choose to keep those that are important and still in use. ‘Needs’ or ‘Wants’ and then ‘Ability’ must be identified.
2. Reusing and reducing where you can – if possible, re-adjust your expenses according to your current affordability (e.g. changing mode of transport, carpooling or using public transport).
3. Taking out things that are no longer needed or in use, such as those unused or rarely used magazine and entertainment subscriptions.
4. Updating your savings goals – make them automated so that you can consistently save according to your plans; avoid dipping into your savings fund.
5. Making a plan to pay down debt especially credit card debts – determine how much you can realistically afford to pay off for the year. Try not to charge additional purchases on those cards while you are paying them off.
6. Reviewing your credit record to ensure no negative aspect is recorded that can lower your credit ratings — affecting your credit score when you apply for a new loan.
There are other aspects of financial planning that you need to review as well such as your protection and insurance needs, your investment portfolio rebalancing and your estate planning. If you feel overwhelmed, reach out to AKPK for Financial Advisory to guide you in addressing your important financial concerns.
All AKPK’s financial advisory and debt management services are free and no agents or third parties are appointed to engage with the public on behalf of AKPK. The public is advised to contact AKPK directly and not to be deceived by service offerings that come with additional fees/charges from third parties claiming to be AKPK agents. Visit www.akpk.org.my to find out more about AKPK’s services.
Source:AKPK
