By Lisa Montgomery, CEO

When you consider where you are financially at the beginning of 2012 - and where you’d like to be, it’s not too late to make changes to effectively manage your money.

Here are some tips to help create a clear financial footprint:

The first five years of working

Arrange to have a portion of your salary credited into a savings account or a term deposit when you receive each pay. The key is to be realistic about the amount you want to save so that you can be consistent. Avoid credit cards. Use a debit card to access your own funds - that way you won’t overspend.

Marriage and family

“Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation”— so said Oscar Wilde. And he was right, talking is the key:

Determine a lifestyle you would both like and stick to a realistic financial plan to achieve that lifestyle. Discuss the future with your partner - plans for children, who will stay at home, and where you see yourselves in five or ten years.

Children at school

Recent reports state that raising two children costs the average Australian family just under $900,000. It’s important to prepare for these costs:

Budget ahead for larger costs so you can continue to keep up your mortgage repayments. Manage your debt structure to keep it simple. Compromise as a family. It’s a valuable lesson for you and your kids to realise you can’t always have what you want.

Empty nesters

As children leave home, consider the merits of downsizing your house. This is an ideal time to put some funds to excellent use:
If you’re still paying off a house - move to a smaller property and free up funds while you are still working.

If you’ve already paid off your mortgage - use the profits to invest in assets that will go to work for you. i.e rent, dividends or capital appreciation. If you’re not ready to downsize, but have available cash - purchase an investment property that you may choose to downsize to later in life. Consider using your super to invest in property. A Self-Managed Super Fund gives you lower tax on capital gains and safeguards your wealth with ongoing uncertainty in the global market.