GIVE YOUR WEALTH a workout

Financial adviser Helen Baker reveals how to get your bank balance fighting fit

- AMBER BRAMBLE

SET FINANCIAL FITNESS GOALS

Take a moment and picture where you’d like to be in a few years. Planning on starting a family? Moving overseas? Buying a home? The more you plan now, the easier (and painless) those transitions will be. ‘Financial plans really need to reflect your goals and dreams,’ says Helen. ‘What’s important to you now may not have been five years ago, or in five years. Think about your “now” and your future.’

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

Much like those Uber Eats orders when you’ve been too lazy to buy groceries, impulse buys have a way of adding up. It may be time to start recording your cash input versus your cash output – think of it like a financial kilojoule counter where the goal is to make your bank balance heftier. ‘Think of all sources of money coming in and all outgoings,’ Helen says. ‘Specific amounts need to be set aside in your plan for saving and investments – no matter how small – so that you can keep an eye on them and watch them grow.’

BEWARE FANCY PROMISES