DIY Investor Magazine
| August 2017
46
POST-UNIVERSITY: FINANCIAL PLANNING SOONER RATHER
THAN LATER
With dissertations, exams and several deadlines, the
last thing on your mind in your final university year is
financial planning. You’ll still be dependent on student
loans and bailouts from your parents but once you
graduate, things will change. This is why before you
graduate it’s wise to start thinking about financial
planning.
Student accommodation will no longer be available
to you, and if you don’t want to return to your parents,
you’ll have to take a step on the property ladder. As your
circumstances change, so will your needs. For example,
you may want to purchase a car to help with your daily
commute.
Whilst everyone’s goals will differ, no matter what they
are, financial planning can help you meet them. Here,
Stocks and Shares ISAs provider, True Potential Investor,
share their tips for managing your financial goals.
IDENTIFY YOUR GOALS
Common goals include saving for physical items or
experiences, such as a home, car or holiday – but as
previously mentioned, these goals will vary between
individuals depending on your priorities and personal
needs.
And whilst it might seem like a life time away – literally –
it would be wise to start considering to put money aside
from your pension.
Planning for your retirement so soon after your
graduation might seem odd, but planning early is crucial
to ensuring your comfort in later life. Considering we
save an average of £142 a month towards our pension,
it’s important to start saving as soon as we can to make
sure we can reach our goals.
Any goals that you set yourself need to be achievable.
You don’t want to leave yourself without and cause a
strain on your finances.
IT WOULD BE WISE TO START CONSIDERING TO PUT MONEY
ASIDE FROM YOUR PENSION
BEFORE YOU GRADUATE IT’S WISE TO START THINKING
ABOUT FINANCIAL PLANNING
You may want to categorise your goals based on
timescales. For example, a short-term goal might
be buying a car, while a long-term goal could be
contributing to your pension.
YOUR GOALS SHOULD BE QUANTIFIED
The second step is to quantify your goals. Setting goals
is easy to do, but failing to quantify them makes them
easy to fall behind on. Your goals will only become
achievable if you can iron out details and decide roughly
how much you need and when by.
Timescales should also be achievable. You must be
realistic. Choosing a large amount over a short period of
time could be unachievable and place unwanted strain
on your current finances or resources.
CREATE A BUDGET
It’s important to look at your monthly finances before
you decide how much you can put away each month.
Your financial situation will influence how much you can
comfortably set aside.
Create a list of your current monthly income and work
out your monthly expenses. Categorising your outgoings
together —such as housing, utilities, transportation,
