{"id":187581,"date":"2021-04-30T10:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=101967"},"modified":"2021-04-30T10:00:13","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T08:00:13","slug":"fast-track-your-financial-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/fast-track-your-financial-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast track your Financial Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

A five-step process that will give you the structure you need to achieve financial independence<\/p>\n

South African\u2019s recently commemorated Freedom Day, a celebration of our nation\u2019s struggle for democracy. But how many of us are truly free?<\/p>\n

Freedom means being able to do what you want, when you want \u2013 within the confines of the law of course. But how many South African\u2019s actually have enough money to live the lives they choose?<\/p>\n

According to Colin Long, a Director and Advisory Partner at Consolidated Wealth, very few South African\u2019s can afford their lifestyles. \u201cBeing financially free means that you have enough savings, investments and cash to afford the lifestyle that you want for yourself and your family,\u201d Colin explains. \u201cAnd the truth is that most South African\u2019s suffer from \u201cstuffitis\u201d. We buy things we don\u2019t need with money we don\u2019t have to impress people we don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result is that many of us live with more debt than we can afford and we become hamsters on a wheel, working harder and harder to maintain momentum because if we slow down, we will be unable to maintain our lifestyles.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreasury estimates that only 6% of South African\u2019s will retire on a livable income. These findings are based on a survey of more than 15 million economically active people with a monthly income of over R8 000. That\u2019s really concerning as it confirms that debt is a national issue, a very real problem across our entire society,\u201d Colin reports.<\/p>\n

But how do you achieve financial freedom? Colin recommends a five-step process that will give you the structure you need.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Start a Budget<\/p>\n

The first step towards financial independence is setting a budget. Be ruthless and separate your needs from your wants. Include all your regular spending such as your bond or rental costs, utilities, credit card bills and other loans as well as your groceries and school fees. It\u2019s possible that you are spending more than you are making, so you will have to figure out where you can cut back. Once you\u2019ve got a realistic budget in place, stick to it.<\/p>\n

2. Pay off your small debts first<\/p>\n

List all your debts from the largest to the smallest and include the interest you are paying for each. Now make a plan to pay off the smallest debt first and then tackle the next smallest debt and then the next. It may seem strange that you pay off your smallest debt first but this will give you a psychological win that will keep you on track.<\/p>\n

3. Create a Financial Plan<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve got your budget and your debt is under control, it\u2019s time to speak to a financial planner. Their first goal will be to put together a plan that protects your income and provides cover for your family should you fall ill or pass away. This will include medical aid, gap cover and life and disability cover. Make sure you are working with a Certified Financial Planning Professional (CFP\u00ae) as this will ensure you will get good financial advice.<\/p>\n

4. Draw up a Will<\/p>\n

Your next step is to draw up your will. If anything happens to you, this will help your family as there is a clear set of guidelines about how your assets should be distributed.<\/p>\n

5. Start saving for your Retirement<\/p>\n

With everything in place, you can now start working with your financial planner on your retirement plan. Ideally, you should consider saving 10 to 15% of your income for retirement and your adviser will tailor a plan that\u2019s attuned to your circumstances. They will meet with you regularly to ensure that your plan is on track and make any necessary adjustments should your circumstances change.<\/p>\n

Now you have some direction, it\u2019s time to start putting your financial plans in place. These five steps will help you develop a solid structure that will put you on the track to true financial freedom so that you are better able to provide for your family and yourself, not to mention the awesome feeling of being debt-free.<\/p>\n

Colin Long, a Director and Advisory Partner at Consolidated Wealth<\/em><\/p>\n

CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pages: Page <\/span>1<\/span> Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n

Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A five-step process that will give you the structure you need to achieve financial independence South African\u2019s recently commemorated Freedom Day, a celebration of our nation\u2019s struggle for democracy. But how many of us are truly free? Freedom means being able to do what you want, when you want \u2013 within the confines of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":187582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,1],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-187581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-south-africa","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fast-track-your-financial-freedom.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}