Page 36 - Smart Money

Chapter 1

Key Point

Most people don’t ever think about the long term. That’s why we
recommend our clients see a financial planner, so that they can get

educated and are not still working when they are 70. They don’t worry
about the ‘what if’. They keep living for today. They might think about a
burglary or a fire, but no further. They think of something happening,

but they don’t actually do anything to stop it from happening.
What happens if you do lose your job? Do you say, “Oh, I’ll be right,
mate. No worries.” What if your partner dies or your tenants trash your
house? These are the sort of things that can and do happen. In business,
what happens if the market changes and what you are currently selling is
no longer the trend? Well, then what are you going to sell? Insurance is
the big topic here, and we are going to talk about that in the next chapter
as well, but if you are not insured, and these ‘what ifs’ happen, well, you
might be in big trouble.

Get smarter with your money
Buying a property is the biggest transaction that you are going to make
in your life, yet the current generation of home buyers aren’t educated
on how to manage money. You are going to spend a lot of money, but you
can’t even handle the little bit of money that you have.

Your knowledge of mortgages and lending processes is probably very,
very basic, and if you think it has no effect on you, you don’t really take
any interest in it. Planning for when life goes wrong is often overlooked,
so you don’t look at the ‘what ifs’ that might come down the track.

The next few chapters are going to help prevent some of the above
situations from happening. I will discuss how to set yourself up for success,
how to make your mortgage work for you in your current situation, and
whether you need to alter your mortgage in a particular way, because
sometimes life goes a bit pear-shaped.

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