5 Tips to achieve your financial New Year’s resolution

It’s that time of year when we start to think about what we want to do differently and what we want to achieve in the coming year. Setting goals can be a great way of planning how you want to change your life.

We have come up with some ideas on how to start your new year right and to achieve these goals!

Open a Junior ISA (JISA)

If you have children and you haven’t set up a savings account for them yet, then why wait? Make this one of your goals to do.

With a Junior ISA, your child doesn’t pay tax on any earnings they make, so they can keep more of their potential gains. Everything you put in a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA belongs to the child, meaning you can’t dip into their savings, however tempted you may be.

When they turn 18, their Junior Stocks and Shares ISA will automatically turn into an adult ISA, at which point they can decide whether to keep investing or to start taking withdrawals. Whether that’s for university, a new car, or a deposit towards a new house.

Manage your debt

Maybe managing your debt is one of your goals for 2023. If you have money worries and you’re struggling with debt, there are changes you can make to improve your position.

The first step to take is to admit that you have money problems and the reason why. Ask yourself, are you an over spender who is guilty of living beyond your means or have been making poor decisions that has caused a rippling effect on your finances?

The sooner you pay off your loan, the less interest you’ll have to pay.

Try and stay focused on paying off your debt. We can help you create a budget plan taking into account your income and outgoings, helping you to achieve this goal as quickly as possible.

Paying off accumulating debt may feel like an impossible task, but with hard work and perseverance, you’ll do it!

Review your pension

If you haven’t already set up a pension or haven’t reviewed it for a while, then this is something you should do for 2023.

You may have pension pots that you have totally forgotten about. One of the benefits of keeping an eye on your pension is having the reassurance that all your money is accounted for and working how it should be. If you would like to explore an old or lost pension, this is something we can help with.

Improve your credit score

If you are planning on buying a new house but are unsure if you can borrow enough funds due to poor credit, there are ways to improve this.

When performing a credit score, be sure to review all the details thoroughly. Things like a wrong address can affect your credit score. If you can manage it, the more debt you can pay off before applying for new credit, the better your chance of securing a mortgage.

Something worth mentioning is the importance of keeping your credit utilisation low. This means that you shouldn’t use all of your available credit, but preferably keep it under 30% of your limit.

Look after yourself

Lastly, the main goal for you in 2023 should be to look after yourself and focus on your health and happiness. In our experience one of the biggest causes of mental health issues is money troubles.

If you need any guidance to try and achieve these goals, we will be more than happy to help you. Click here to get in contact with us or pop in for a chat.