Sound financial management is critical to your future, more than any single issue. However, you don't have to worry too much about it as one thing's for sure, you needn't be a university graduate to manage finance properly. Instead, what you need to do is spare a few minutes and critically think about your future needs. The first time may take a while.

However, once you've done it, all you need in future is simply to revise your work periodically and adjust it according to your changing needs and circumstances. The first thing you should do in the context of financial management is to know your net worth. That is the value of anything you own minus all of your debts and liabilities. You should also find out where your money is coming from, where it's going and how much "real" money is available to you.

Secondly, you should estimate your future needs (e.g. a holiday in Europe, children's education, buying a house, retirement etc). You may start by asking yourself some simple questions such as: "Do I need to save for my kids' education?"; "what's the rate of growth in education costs?"; "how many years from now will the money for my kids' education be needed?"; "do I want to have my own house?"; "at what age do I want to retire?"; and "how much money do I need to live on when I retire?".

Write down your answers. You'll need them to formulate your own financial plan.

In the coming months, we'll be sharing with OffBeat readers some dos and don'ts in financial management. See you then.

<< Back to Index >>