Financial adviser reveals ‘foolproof’ money plan

An Australian financial guru has revealed a “foolproof” plan to get your money in order.

An Aussie money expert has shared his top insider hacks for getting your finances fixed once and for all.

Speaking to news.com.au’s Andrew Bucklow, financial adviser and Pivot Wealth founder Ben Nash has shared the top six tips from his Cashed Up course to help the I’ve Got News For You podcast audience get their finances sorted.

He said the first and “most foundational” thing when it came to savvy financial moves was to track your spending and savings via a budget.

Mr Nash said humans subconsciously prioritised spending cash on things that bring short-term pleasure – like a nice meal or a shopping spree – that “don’t contribute that much to our lives” longer term.

The best way to get started is to go through your bank statements and your credit cards to see “what’s going in what’s going out”, and Mr Nash recommended taking advantage of apps that trawl through bank statements to categorise expenses.

“A budget should be forward looking not always backwards looking. So if you spent, you know, $200 a week on UberEats, in the last 12 months, you might choose not to spend that much in the next 12 months,” Mr Nash said.

The next step is prioritisation, which involves working out what’s truly important to you, whether it be a travel fund or simply freeing up some extra pocket money for everyday expenses.

Get Cashed Up

Created by financial adviser Ben Nash, Cashed Up is news.com.au’s free six-week course to help Aussies get their finances in check. Those who sign up to the budget bootcamp get weekly, step-by-step challenges to improve their financial fitness.

By the end of the six weeks, participants will have set a budget, created a savings plan, learned how to invest, and sorted their superannuation. The interactive course can be started at any time and aims to empower participants to make more informed financial decisions.

Ben Nash has shared his ‘foolproof' plan to get your finances in order. Picture: iStock

However, he advised against setting certain percentages of your income for different categories, as everyone’s situation was different, and instead said it was vital to discover what you valued most, and adjust your budget accordingly.

Step three is “all about automating your saving success”, which involves separating your cash into categories, such as rent, food and spending money, which can be done via multiple bank accounts.

“When you separate your money in that way, and then automate it as much as possible [with] transfers between the accounts each week, it actually hacks a lot of the psychological sort of biases that we fall into or suffer from when it comes to managing our money,” Mr Nash said.

“There’s a tonne of studies out there that show that using the power of small barriers does make a really big difference.”

“I have one bank account that I use for my day-to-day spending … and I know that I allocate a few hundred bucks a week that goes into there and I can spend that all on coffee, I can spend it all on lunches, I can spend it all on an afternoon out with my mates at the pub now that they’ve opened up again. But what’s important for me to stick to my budget is not what I spend that money on.”

Step four is “all about setting some good goals” – in other words, “knowing what your targets are” and knowing what’s possible.

“So you go, OK, well, what’s realistically possible? Where can I actually get to? And that will help you shape what levers you pull to get there. Do you save more? Do you invest more aggressively? Do you invest in your career or further yourself so that you can make more money to get ahead faster, differently, whatever,” he said.

“And then you can wind it into your actual goal, and then set a clear timeline so that, again, you know what the milestones are, you can see that it’s achievable, as you put in the work to get there.”

The next step is investing, which is essential for those of us who don’t want to work forever.

“Saving money in a bank account is really slow going, especially with the ultra low interest rates that we’re seeing at the moment,” Mr Nash said.

“So you need to invest and invest smart.”

Now is the time to start building your knowledge about investment, to remove the “fear of the unknown” which can be a major barrier for many Aussies.

Ben Nash reveals his top money hacks.

The final step is sorting out your super, which Mr Nash said was something “we tend to bury our heads in the sand” about.

“Funnily enough, if you had $50,000 in a bank account, you’d probably be watching it like a hawk, but $50,000 in your super fund, we ignore the letters and the emails or both,” he said.

“Now, it should be said that you’re super doesn’t need a lot of work. It doesn’t require much to be doing the right things. But once you understand investing and you’ve got a personal investment strategy that you follow … your super should be probably somewhat consistent with that.

“So it’s about making sure you’ve got a reasonable fund that’s giving you good value for money.”