Many of us started 2023 with pledges to invest more time in our physical fitness – increase flexibility, strength and endurance.
Yep, it’s easier in the holidays to invest time in ourselves, but once the workday routine consumes the hours in the day it’s much harder to persist and resist the temptation to hit snooze, stick our heads in a screen, promise ourselves ‘tomorrow.’ Financial fitness is the same. We can start off with good intentions to save or invest in our future, but Christmas chews up debit and credit accounts and the cost of living crisis is presenting daily challenges and choices we didn’t have to make before. When we have young bodies we tend to take them for granted.
It can be hard to imagine ourselves creaky, stiff, injured or ill. It’s the same with our finances. When we’re embarking on our career of choice, or in the thick of the middle years, it's hard imagining affordable retirement. And our perceived security can rapidly disintegrate if we experience an unforeseen illness, accident or loss of work. When we receive a financial shock it becomes a never ending spiral in our mind, robbing us of creativity and calm. The fear nags constantly - how will we get through the week, month? We can’t see into the future.
But we can invest in ourselves. Healthy food habits, regular exercise and limiting alcohol are recipes for keeping our bodies fit.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/exercise-and-mental-health
But what about our financial health? Financial stress can cause sleeplessness, anxiety and depression and is even a factor in weight loss and gain. So looking after our finances is just as important as taking care of our bodies.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/financial-stress
It’s common to dip in and out of fitness over a lifetime. All needs evolve. And different life phases and stages mean less time for exercise or more ‘leaning in’ to work or family. It can be hard to prioritise physical, mental and emotional health as the busyness of life chews up all the hours in a day.
Same with our Financial Fitness. Earnings change. We save for specific things like cars, holidays, a home of our own. We rely on super contributions to cushion that far off future. It’s amazing how quickly age creeps up on us! Which is why a long term plan like investing in an existing managed Fund can take some of the stress out of Financial Fitness. A simple path to financial health is to put a little aside regularly, to invest steadily, building capacity for unexpected events or inevitable retirement. Small, regular, contributions into a managed fund means your money gradually compounds. In the same way that your consistent fitness efforts slowly change your body over time.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Like your physical fitness, your portfolio will ebb and flow.
But we’re not looking for a quick fix or the latest faddish diet. We’re looking at our health (physical and financial) over the long term. Over years to your distant future. The kwala Fund invests in companies that we believe are doing good things in the world. Invest in yourself this year.
We are.
#kwalacares
*The Kwala Fund is issued by Melbourne Securities Corporation Limited. Please consider the PDS and TMD available on our website before applying.
All information is general advice only.
All Investments carry risk.