5 Simple Financial Tasks To Make Life Better That Looks Very Hard From The Outside

It is said that money makes life easy!

However, when it comes to manage that money people just run –away from it.

As far as money management is considered, there are a few tasks like evaluating a stock that needs deep understanding and a specialised skill.

But there are few other simpler tasks, which everyone can do.

At the outset, they may appear difficult. However, they are simple if you understand the basics and practice it.

At the outset, they may appear harder. However, they are simpler if you understand the basics and you start practicing it.

It is our attitude at the beginning of a task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.

So let’s see what these simple financial tasks are that can change your life for better.

Table of Contents:

1. Budgeting
2. Taxes
3. Estate Planning
4. Information Vault
5. Preparing A Will

1) Budgeting

“Every young man should have a hobby. Learning how to handle money is the best one.” Jack Hurley.

Budgeting, simply means being aware of where you are spending your money.

If you want to learn about this concept then there are a great number of books, blogs and tutorials dedicated to this topic. There are certain other websites also which freely guides you about every detail of budgeting.

But take a minute to think, apply your common sense to evade the illusion of complexity.

To project the expenses for the future, you can take the clue from your past expenses. So you need to refer your old bank statements and credit card statements. Also don’t forget add the annual expenses like car insurance, property tax, festival expenses.

Taking your past expenses is a start. It will give you a ballpark figure of what is about to come.

But most importantly you have to be aware of the cash inflow and outflow in the present.

That is, you must make budgeting your habit. You can do that by downloading and using our own expense tracker or any other good tracker app.

Once you do this, it will lead you to the most important step of budgeting—finding your Investible Surplus.

An investible surplus is the untapped investible money from your cash inflow that is slipping through your fingers. No matter how careful you are, unless you write it down this investible surplus money will keep leaking forever.

Download our Investible Surplus Calculator to calculate your investible surplus.

Since you already have established a budgeting habit, it will give you the clear picture and make you self-aware in calculating your investible surplus.

Budget and find your investible surplus; create something out of nothing.

Once you know how much investible surplus you have, you can go ahead and decide which financial goal you should feed with the surplus.

2) Taxes

“The hardest thing in this world to understand in Income Tax”

Fortunately, this is a wrong notion to have.

Most of us think, the tax planning and tax filing are complicated things and we need to have more knowledge to do so. Actually it is not.

If you are a salaried person, tax planning is much easier than you think. You need to pay close attention to your form 16 to understand more about where and how to save tax.

Now a days, you can file the income tax return online. The process is completely easier and user friendly.

But if you want to know about the Income Tax Act 1969 tax saving sections, you can read all about them here:

“Are you A Salaried Employee? Here’s All Your Income Tax Deductions!”

3) Estate Planning

Estate planning is nothing but planning about how your assets need to be shared between your Legal heirs after your death.

• If you have not created a Open-ended funds so far, create one now. List down all the assets, movable, immovable, financial… Also decide which asset needs to be passed on to whom and mention that.
• Update all your investments and insurance plans with Intrinsic value and Beneficiaries. You need to review this periodically.
• Make sure the nominees or beneficiaries registered in the investments and person to whom you want the proceeds to go after your death needs to be same. This will make the entire asset transmission process easier.

Estate planning will help your legal heirs to get the transmission happen not only faster and also makes sure the transmission happen without a conflict.

A best estate plan is the one which will not leave the heirs with conflict, confusion and cost.

4. Financial Information Vault

A Financial Information Vault is a simple protected document file where you can enter and save all your essential financial information.

An Information Vault keeps it all in one safe place for easy and secure access rather than being scattered all around.

But is it necessary though?

Consider this,

How many times have you searched for a financial document or other financial information like an account ID or policy number and couldn’t find it in time?

You will be sure it’s in the second drawer but when you look, it won’t be there. It is at that moment questions start to pop up in your head.

“Is it in the other room?”

“Did I leave it in my office?”

“Did I leave it in the car?”

“Have I lost it?”

The stress you feel in those moments are unnecessary and easily avoidable with the Information Vault. And avoiding those moments can make a huge difference in your day.

With an Information Vault, you know where to look and get when you need it.

Here’s the list of essential information that you can save in a Financial Information Vault.

• Life Insurance Documents & Details
• Bank Documents & Details
• Investment Papers & Details
• Property Details & Documents
• Income Tax Details &Documents
• Loan Papers
• Monthly Bills
• Other Important Documents
• Financial Advisor Contact Details
• Legal Advisor Contact Details
• Location of Physical Documents

So next time you feel like losing your patience while searching for a document…No, wait!

You can download your free editable Financial Information Vault template here.

Financial Information Vault Download Link

Get started now!

Although I insist you read about the Financial Information Vault in detail here:

“How To Practically Organize Your Financial Documentation?”

It will guide you how to prepare your Financial Information Vault and get the best benefit out of it.

“An hour spent in preparation can save hundreds of hours wasted in confusion”

5. Preparing A Will

“Where there is a Will, there is a way”

Here, “Will” is not a verb but a noun.

With risk management and the information vault, the financial security to your family is certain in your abrupt demise.

With a financial plan, achieving your financial goals is certain.

And there comes a time when you have to leave it all to your successors as you go to rest in peace.

If you had not prepared a Will by then, it is probably too late.

Very often, people tend to think that preparing a Will is a big complex process.

But the fact is, it is a simple process that you can do by yourself.

The outlook to prepare a Will is this,

i. List all your assets
ii. List Beneficiaries
iii. Take legal advice (if necessary)
iv. Draft the Will
v. Appoint an Executor
vi. Have two witnesses
vii. Sign the Will
viii. Register (If necessary)

If you look at it, you can see that you can prepare a will by yourself with a very little willing family and friends.

If anything, drafting the Will may take some effort. But you can find numerous samples online to get an idea and write your customised Will.

Even a legal advice is not always necessary. Although it is good to consult a lawyer to avoid legal complications with certain assets, like an inherited property.

Another significant thing is that it is not mandatory in India to register you Will.

Here is “A step-by-step guide to write your Will!”

Does it look like a complex or a hard step to take anymore?

Do not hesitate or put off this significant yet simple step in your financial life. And make it more structured and stress free, you have earned it.

Conclusion

Even though they sound too big and complicated, there is no complication in doing these tasks.

The complication is there only as an illusion in our minds. If we could overcome that by taking the first small step, these tasks will become simple as they can get.

In short, make use of these smart and handy tips to simplify seemingly complicated financial tasks. It will definitely make your financial life better and easier to get with.

And above all, one of the simplest task to make your financial life easier is to get a professional’s help for a comprehensive financial plan.

All you have to do is click “Register Now!” below to register for your FREE 30 Minute Consultation.

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