August 2022

On a scale of one to ten how happy are you?

Whatever your score, ask yourself why you have given yourself that score. Now think what score would you like it to be.

If there is a difference between the two scores, ask yourself what would be needed to change to your preferred score. Then ask yourself just what it would mean to be at that score and how committed are you to do what is needed.

The above sounds like a lot of thinking, but don’t you deserve to be as happy as you want to be?

Improving your score

After the above exercise why not do the same for other areas of your life. No one should tell you what your life should be like, and in most cases, you have the ability to improve things. It just depends on how much you want that change.

Some areas to consider in reviewing your life could be your health, level of fitness, your job, religious involvement and your finances.

Remember, it’s about scoring where you are now and where you want to be, it’s not about wanting to achieve a score of ten.

Financial matters

When it comes to finance or financial wealth, many may think ten out of ten would be great, and perhaps it would be, but depending on what a ten would mean to you, most people would be unlikely to achieve it. However, if your definition of a ten is having a bit more money than you need or want, then for many it is achievable with a plan.

You don’t need to be clever to be wealthy, and relying on luck is not the best approach.

As finance is the area in which I work let’s look at this is more detail; if we assume a score of ten is being a multimillionaire and a five is getting by, many might choose a score of perhaps seven or eight as where they would like to be. Then, after knowing what your current income and savings are, and what your expenses are, you need to establish what life would be like at a level you want and just how much income and capital is needed to achieve it.

Ask for help

If you need assistance with this, a good financial planner can assist you. They can also help you appreciate the different forms of saving and of providing income. They can look at the tax implications of a strategy and work out the best way to get you to where you want to be. Depending on the method, the likelihood is you will need to invest in funds of some kind.

Last week I reviewed the June performance of our cautious portfolio and, given the recent market turmoil’s, was pleased to discover we were ranked second in the UK, which is a great achievement that we are extremely proud of.

Make sure you seek expert advice when looking at your finances – it could be the difference in your score chart!