For most Australians, the greatest amount of financial pressure will take place from age 30 to 40. Getting married, higher education (or paying it off), mortgage repayments, career breaks and providing for children can make controlling the weekly cash flow difficult during this time.

Yet due to the benefits of compounding returns, the best starting time for investing is also in this age bracket. If you can achieve 30 years of compounding returns for retirement you will create the nest egg you desire. However ... the longer you take to get started, the greater the risk of not accumulating sufficient wealth in time for retirement.

There's more to financial advice than investing

Did you know that 32.2% of younger investors don't seek financial advice because they believe their investment needs are too simple to warrant it?

But it does not always need to be about investments. As financial advisors we are also here to assist with cashflow management, debt management and wealth protection. These aspects often resonate more with younger people as they can see immediate and positive results - and achieve peace of mind knowing that they have started a proactive financial planning process.

Getting started

Start with a blank piece of paper or spreadsheet and establish a budget by recording your income and expenses in separate columns. This will clearly show whether you have a surplus to invest or a deficit to reign in. Your budget can be that simple or you can divide your budget up into components that include "essential expenses", "discretionary expenses" and "lifestyle expenses".

Once the budget is completed, your goals become the centrepiece. What do you wish to achieve by a certain date? Common goals include buying a car, going on holidays overseas, saving for a house deposit or planning a wedding.

A good financial adviser will help you bring these two documents together in a concise plan. Adding wealth protection and retirement saving gives you a flexible strategy that can be reviewed and adjusted as you progress through your life journey.

Did you know ...?

A regular savings plan is a great way for young clients to start building wealth early on.

Individuals aged 30 to 40 are likely to be better served by taking on more risk and allowing the smoothing effects of time to cancel out volatility and provide an attractive return on capital.　

Tips for Success

Protect yourself. The biggest cashflow injection into your household budget is you. The need to protect this "wealth" is vital to building and maintaining your asset base. Medical costs are expensive and can take a large chunk of savings. Mortgage costs can also quickly erode savings and lead to further stress on households. The ability for an individual or their family to access a benefit in the event of an injury or death is of immense importance.　

Get educated. It is very important to invest in yourself by taking the time to understand what financial advice is about. Understanding why financial advisers recommend or suggest certain strategies can assist with implementation and engagement. Every industry has certain jargon that never seems to be translated into everyday language. Education also helps with asking your financial adviser questions regarding your individual circumstances. 

Understanding the difference between "good debt" and "bad debt". Not all debt is beneficial to your financial future. Borrowing money to invest in assets is "good debt", borrowing money to purchase a lifestyle or discretionary goods and services, gives us an initial satisfactory feeling but soon "bad debt" can impinge on our lifestyle via large interest repayments. By keeping to the budget you have set yourself and understanding how to use leverage wisely, debt can be your friend and you can still have a lifestyle.

Review regularly. It is great you have started down the road to financial freedom and success, but with any plan, accountability is important. Don’t just place your budget in the bottom draw, or your investment paperwork in the pile in the corner of the room. Take the time to sit with your partner or financial adviser and review. Regular reviews allow for quick responses to strategies that might be not working, or adjustments can be made that takes into account changing goals or objectives without impacting largely on the overall strategic plan.

Accept that sometimes performance will be negative but stick to your plan. The benefit of being young and having a long term horizon for investing, allows you to take risks. Risks that need to be taken in order to grow an asset base. Sometimes these risks will cause some losses to be unrealised or sometimes crystallised. The point is not to be demotivated by this. Review and if the strategy is still sound, keep investing as you have plenty of time to make up these losses. Getting out at the wrong time can be more damaging to your long term goals then riding the volatility that comes with investing.

More information

For more information, please contact Ian Walker via ianw@lanternadvisory.com.au or phone 07 3002 2699.