MPs push for five-year spending review

MPs are pushing for a five-year spending review that will help cement goals.

07:46 06 August 2013

MPs recently stated that the spending reviews should cover five years to reflect the same timetable for the fixed-term Parliaments. The current spending review covered only 2015-2016.

 

It’s possible to make effective decisions that way, but it would also be beneficial to have clear-cut goals for the next five years. Planning ahead allows for proper research and implementation for greater success rates.

For our personal investments, for example, we would set out the goals we have for a few years into the future rather than just one year. We might review our portfolio each year, or even every six months, but without a long-term goal we don’t have a good way to assess how we’re doing with our investments. 

 

• Reviewing investments each year, or every six months is important but the results of the review should be compared to long-term goals we have for our investments. Five years is a decent amount of time, especially if you are nearing retirement age. If you are in the very early stages of dealing with investments you might want to have a ten-year plan.

 

• Investments can be difficult to deal with simply because we have a tendency to want to move to a different investment at the first hint of loss. Putting the information into a graph so you can get a visual idea of the history of your investments will give you a much better idea of whether or not the investment will help you achieve your financial goals. 

 

• Having a long-term plan is actually a good way to make sure that you remain on track with your investments. You may need to modify that plan, or the means to achieve your five or ten-year goal. If you don’t have a five-year or ten-year plan, it’s easy to let financial matters slide as long as you’re getting by.