As we enter the final quarter of 2015, now can be a good time to take stock and review how the year has gone and how we are tracking towards our goals. Conducting reviews of many aspects of your life is a good habit to form and doing it quarterly can be a really good habit.
Whilst reviewing your personal finances, you should take a close look at your personal insurances. This is best done in conjunction with your financial planner.
In Australia, research has shown that most people fail to have adequate levels of insurance on both themselves and their family. In fact, research showed that parents with dependents were the most critically underinsured, to the tune of a whopping $1.37 trillion. (statistics courtesy of IFSA)
Here is another scary statistic. In Australia, more than 3 in 4 Australians will be diagnosed with a serious illness in their working life (statistic courtesy of the ABS).
Now you need to know not only what personal insurances you have, but if they still meet your current needs and situation. As part of the FinanceCorp family, our FinanceCorp Finance Services division is able to offer you personal financial planning. If you would like to book an obligation-free appointment, please feel free to contact me directly.
What else can you be reviewing now?
Many of us simply continuously pay our bills without ever giving them too much thought. But the reality of it is, we need to conduct a review of most of our outgoings to ensure we are not only getting the best deal but to ensure they still meet our needs. Here is a quick checklist of outgoings that you should review:
- Home and contents insurance: it is a fact that many of us have both our homes and our contents underinsured. You should consider what it would cost to replace not only your home but also everything in it.
- Private health insurance: are you getting value from all that your insurance covers. Can you look at swapping certain services, removing services that you don’t need and adding ones that you might need.
- Utilities: there is now a choice when it comes to gas providers so check out if you are getting the best deal
- Phones: many of us have both a home and mobile phone: again review your plans, ensure you are using all the services you are paying for and cancel them if not.
- Internet: again, does your current plan suit your usage. Call up your provider and chat to them. They are often happy to recommend a bundle based on your past usage. Remember, it could be cheaper to bundle your phones and internet together.
- Car insurance: again reviewed what you are covered for and check out that things like alarms and stored in a garage are noted if this applies.
- Bank accounts: go through your past statements and check out what fees and charges you are paying. Consider if you can reduce these costs.
It may take a little time to go through all of these expenses but there are certainly savings waiting for you if you spend some time conducting an audit.