What I learnt about financing my future

Written by our Young Alumni Sam McKindlay

I recently attended the Financing Your Future event held by Adelaide University’s Young Alumni network. The event featured Josh Williams, CEO of Super Guardian and Marissa Schulze, Managing Director of Rise High Financial Solutions.

After another long day at work, I was eager to obtain the secrets to escaping the rat race and retiring by the ripe old age of 30. I may have watered down my retirement expectations in the course of the evening, but I left the event enlightened and motivated to get on top of my personal finances.

Josh and Marissa gave advice on a number of financial areas relevant to the diverse Young Alumni audience. The three gems of knowledge I took away from the evening were:

To be intentional 

Josh talked about the importance of being intentional in your finances.

If you are like me, you probably find yourself making unnecessary impulse purchases on a regular basis, whether it’s the late night online shopping purchase of a Shakti Mat or walking out with half the snack aisle when ducking into the supermarket for some milk. These purchases quickly eat away at my recently received paycheck, and by the following weekend, I find myself hanging out for the next pay run.

By making intentional financial decisions, you consciously decide where you want to spend your money before it somehow disappears. This involves allocating fixed percentages of where you want your pay to go (savings, investment, holiday, splurge) and sticking to it.

Pay Yourself First

Marissa’s top tip also had the same resounding principles as being intentional. She suggested that paying yourself first is the best way to achieve your financial goals. By distributing your savings and investment allocations on payday, you can spend only what you have budgeted for. She also suggested that setting up your savings account with a different bank is a good strategy to avoid transferring out of your savings when you have overspent.

Your Biggest Asset Is Your Potential to Earn

When asked “what is your biggest asset” during the talk, images of my beloved 2010 Ford Falcon ran through my head, followed by the thought of the 50k degree hanging in my living room. I was surprised to learn that both of these fell short of the mark when compared to my potential to earn, which was valued in the millions.

The speakers stressed the importance of maximising our largest asset. This could be anything from upskilling in your current role, to taking a completely different career path.

This was such a fantastic evening and I had a great time networking with fellow alumni, filling myself with canapés and understanding how I can help my savings account blossom this Spring.