4 Top Tips to Review your Finances over the Summer Break

Date: 17 Aug 2023

Karen Jones

Laura Ripley, Chartered Financial Planner at BRI Wealth Management, provides 4 top tips on how best to conduct a thorough financial review over the Summer Break.

As the hustle and bustle of everyday life slows, Summertime is an opportune time to take stock of your financial situation and change course as needed to ensure you’re on track to achieve your financial goals.

In this piece, you will find top tips on how best to conduct a thorough financial review, bringing you peace of mind as you embrace the Summer season and all of its delights.

Tip #1 – Get a budget planner

It may seem overly simplistic but getting a budget planner is a great place to start, and you’ll see the benefits of having one immediately.

The budget planner will help you keep track of your income vs outgoings. You can either go old school with a leather notebook, or go the digital route using an online version like the one available on MoneyHelper.

As you start to use the budget planner, make sure you look back over your bank statements for spending on leisure and discretionary items – you’d be surprised how easy it is to underestimate these. You may also find that there are areas where savings can be made. For instance, are there subscriptions still running that you don’t make use of? Can you get a better deal on your broadband, TV, insurances? At the moment, it’s worth checking with your energy supplier if the monthly payment can be reduced. Same goes for your mobile phone bill – you may be able cut the cost by half!

Before you know it, you could be saving £250 per month – money that could be used to fund your personal aspirations.

Tip #2 – Set your financial goals

Caught up in our everyday lives, we often fail to give careful consideration to the financial goals we want to set for ourselves. Yet, it’s important to do this, not only to have clarity on where we’re headed but also to ensure we have enough capital to fund the road we’ve chosen to take.

Once your objectives have been set, it’s essential to regularly review them to help stay on track, especially if upcoming factors could impact your financial situation (like buying a house, having your first child, etc.) – The earlier these are taken into account, the more you can mitigate their impact.

Tip #3 – Seek guidance

There is a common perception that only the wealthy need a financial planner – this is far from being true. Seeking guidance from a financial planner should be considered by everyone, regardless of their wealth. 

A financial planner helps assess your current financial situation as well as visualise where your finances are headed if they continue on the same trajectory. Firstly, they’ll discuss any overarching needs. Typically, this refers to financial protection (like insurance) in case you or a family member were to fall ill or die. It is critical that you regularly review for financial protection. Very often, we see families who have welcomed two more children and doubled their mortgage without updating their insurance and are now hugely exposed financially.

A financial planner also helps you plan, prioritise and regularly review your finances to meet your goals by assessing whether they are still competitive (in terms of cost and performance) and suitable for your needs, whether the risk profile is appropriate and still meeting the purpose for which it was established. 

Tip #4 – Get your files in order

It’s something everyone dreads but the benefits outweigh the aggravation. August is a perfect time to tidy up your files and digitise paper documents to avoid any further cluttering of your home with more IKEA filing cabinets.

Also, take some time to check that your accounts and records are digitally secured and remember to regularly change your passwords – don’t be afraid to mix things up with the passwords you use!

It’s also worth considering creating a financial file for your next of kin, so that everything is in one place in the event of an unexpected death. The file doesn’t need to include extensive details of your financial situation and plans, the broad lines would suffice. Feel free to also include the contact information of your professional advisers (planner, accountant, solicitor).

Finally, do take a moment to revisit your Will to make sure it still reflects your current wishes and if it doesn’t (or if you don’t have a Will yet), now is the time to get it sorted, before the ‘back to school craze’ overtakes us again.

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