Welfare revision should begin at the ‘Top’

Dealing with finances requires a strategy such as dealing with highest expenses first.

10:30 21 June 2013

The Labour party has stated that welfare reform must begin at the top in order to be effective, and believes that forcing low-income parties to pay for benefits that will be received by the wealthy is a flaw in the welfare system.

When you are trying to revise your finances, it must work the same way. Here are a few ideas to help you with your budget.

• Bird’s eye view—although figurative, this just means that you want to take a step back and look at the larger picture. It’s easy to be overwhelmed with finances sometimes, but taking a step back can put things in perspective. List your debts, monthly expenses, investments, savings, and income.

 

• Analysis—when you look through your finances, you may want to start with the largest debt or investment first. For example, review your mortgage loan if you have one. This is likely your largest investment. See if you have equity, and find out if it’s a good time to try and refinance for a lower rate.

 

• Reduction—hopefully when you begin the analysis of your finances with the largest expenses, you’ll be able to make significant positive changes to your budget. By the time you get down to more minor expenses, you may be able to do without some of them completely if you’re only a little bit away from your budgeting goal.

 

• Growth—if everything looks great with your finances, but you’re just not seeing the type of growth you want out of some of your investments consider speaking to an independent financial advisor who is qualified to help guide you in a better direction.

 

• Future—when you’re revising your finances, remember to consider what things might be like in the future. It’s likely that your everyday costs will increase due to inflation or other causes.