Author: smartmoneyasia

Over the coming days we will be discussing how to build up an accurate picture of your current financial position by looking at your income and expenditure, balance sheet and asset weighting. Before that though, let’s start with a few general questions you can ask yourself to get a sense of where you are today and how you feel about it. Try to answer on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being terrible and 5 being outstanding:

1. How would you rate your current income?
2. How would you rate your net worth?
3. If you have any, how do you feel about your current investments?
4. How would you rate your current cost of living?
5. How would you rate your level of monthly saving?

How did you score out of 25? Anything over 20 and you’re in a pretty good place. 15-20 indicates relative comfort, but with room for improvement. Less than 10 and you might need some cheering up! Regardless of your score, did you learn something from answering these questions? What areas do you need to focus on to improve your current position?

Whether you believe “money is the root of all evil” or “money makes the world go round”, your psychology with regard to money will impact upon your decision making.

Why not take a moment to review the questions below and see how you really feel about money and your finances:

1. How do you feel you are doing financially right now?
2. What are some positive / negative emotions you have about money?
3. What is your greatest fear about money and finances?
4. How much do you think you are capable of earning annually? Are you earning that much now?
5. How are the people around you doing financially?
6. What is an absolute must for you right now financially?
7. What is your ultimate financial dream?
8. What is your current level of financial pressure?
9. What is your risk tolerance for investments? Conservative, moderate or aggressive?
10. What is your overall rating for your financial psychology on a scale of 1-5?

Our beliefs about money can either support us or deter us from successful financial planning. If you are thinking “This is too hard” or “I don’t have time for this”, then perhaps you need to work on developing some more empowering beliefs to help you along the way. If you are thinking “I’ve got this” or “I’m ready to take control of my finances” then you are good to go!

Well they say the first step is always the hardest. If you’re reading this, congratulations! You are probably thinking it’s about time you got around to organising your personal or family finances, but where to start? There’s so much information available these days that it’s easy to get bogged down in detail and never do anything. Well hopefully this blog can help.

First off some disclosure: I’m a U.K. qualified financial planner and have been working as a financial adviser in Japan for over 12 years. During that time I have met hundreds of people from different backgrounds, countries, and walks of life, all wrestling with one or more of these basic issues: saving money for retirement and their kids, protecting themselves from financial mishaps, buying a home, caring for aging parents, dealing with the taxman, and trying to become financially free.

The purpose of this blog is not to sell you a product to plug one of these needs. The way people access financial products and advice is changing rapidly and there has never been a better time to take control of your own financial destiny. The mission here is to provide a resource to help you to do just that. Like financial planning itself, this blog is a marathon and not a sprint. Over time we will cover financial planning basics, how different assets work, protection, investment vehicles in Japan and elsewhere, along with market news and the odd non-financial article on life in Asia.

Constructive comments are welcome and please feel free to share anything you find useful. Yorishiku onegaishimasu!