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Facing an Uncertain Future - June 2019
As the old saying goes "the only thing certain in this life is death".
In today's world there are very few certainties. You can't even be certain of employment: a job for life is rare.
In the 21st century, most Australians will have four to six jobs throughout their working life. Some will change jobs voluntarily, others will be forced to change or into unemployment, facing a bleak and uncertain future - unless they are prepared.
How do you prepare for such eventualities? By planning for the future, whatever it may hold in store.
If it is unemployment, you will be prepared when it hits. If it never hits, you have lost nothing, but gained peace of mind and security in knowing you would survive the crisis.
In today's world there are very few certainties. You can't even be certain of employment: a job for life is rare.
In the 21st century, most Australians will have four to six jobs throughout their working life. Some will change jobs voluntarily, others will be forced to change or into unemployment, facing a bleak and uncertain future - unless they are prepared.
How do you prepare for such eventualities? By planning for the future, whatever it may hold in store.
If it is unemployment, you will be prepared when it hits. If it never hits, you have lost nothing, but gained peace of mind and security in knowing you would survive the crisis.
"The reason why most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don't have it well designed."
~~Jim Rohn~~
~~Jim Rohn~~
The Emergency Fund
I've been talking about emergency funds for years - over 20 in fact. And still there are those who question the need to save for emergencies. They come up with some good reasons (read: excuses) as to why they don't have even a small $1,000 emergency fund. They'd rather put everything into the mortgage and can redraw if they need to; they keep a credit card for emergencies; and the best - they can't afford to save!
So, in the interests of being clear I'll say it again: the very first and most important thing you need to do is start an emergency survival fund.
Do it now!
Open a separate bank account just for this money. In the beginning, you may not have a large amount to allocate to this fund. But do it - even five or ten dollars a week adds up over time.
The easiest way to get your emergency fund started is to have a portion of your pay automatically deposited directly into this account every payday. That might be weekly, fortnightly, monthly or whenever you are paid. Over time, try to build this amount up until you are depositing 10% of your gross pay into this account every payday.
It won't be easy, and yes, you'll have to make sacrifices. But those sacrifices are only for short time in the grand scheme of your life, and the peace of mind you'll have is worth much more than the lattes or smashed avo on toast or the new shoes or whatever that you "sacrifice" so you can build your emergency fund.
Plan to build the balance up until you have saved 3 months gross wages. With this amount of savings, you have the reassurance that when disaster strikes, you have a safety net to fall into.
Then keep on saving until you have a full 12 months of living expenses saved. Once you have that, you really can breathe easier, knowing that no matter what happens, you'll be able to pay the bills, eat and live for at least a year without stressing over money.
This saving will take time.
I've been talking about emergency funds for years - over 20 in fact. And still there are those who question the need to save for emergencies. They come up with some good reasons (read: excuses) as to why they don't have even a small $1,000 emergency fund. They'd rather put everything into the mortgage and can redraw if they need to; they keep a credit card for emergencies; and the best - they can't afford to save!
So, in the interests of being clear I'll say it again: the very first and most important thing you need to do is start an emergency survival fund.
Do it now!
Open a separate bank account just for this money. In the beginning, you may not have a large amount to allocate to this fund. But do it - even five or ten dollars a week adds up over time.
The easiest way to get your emergency fund started is to have a portion of your pay automatically deposited directly into this account every payday. That might be weekly, fortnightly, monthly or whenever you are paid. Over time, try to build this amount up until you are depositing 10% of your gross pay into this account every payday.
It won't be easy, and yes, you'll have to make sacrifices. But those sacrifices are only for short time in the grand scheme of your life, and the peace of mind you'll have is worth much more than the lattes or smashed avo on toast or the new shoes or whatever that you "sacrifice" so you can build your emergency fund.
Plan to build the balance up until you have saved 3 months gross wages. With this amount of savings, you have the reassurance that when disaster strikes, you have a safety net to fall into.
Then keep on saving until you have a full 12 months of living expenses saved. Once you have that, you really can breathe easier, knowing that no matter what happens, you'll be able to pay the bills, eat and live for at least a year without stressing over money.
This saving will take time.