Time for a Financial Health Check?

We are usually fairly careful about our bodily health, our physical health, and our mental health.

We’ll go to the doctor for a check-up, we’ll go to the dentist to get our teeth checked. I’m in that group now that has to go to the optometrist every couple of years to get my eyes checked too!

Perhaps you look after your physical health by seeing a personal trainer or a nutritionist?

And we’ll take time out for ourselves – and check in for a mental health day every now and again.

We will happily consult with health and wellness experts to make sure that we remain healthy and we live longer – that’s the plan, yeah?

So, what about your finances?

If you’re looking after your body, you could well have a complete team around you – whether you are consciously aware of it or not – but you are tapping into expertise from a team of experts to help you live longer, and be healthier.

Here’s the list of health professionals whose expertise I use to look after me:

• Doctor

• Dentist

• Chiropractor

• Optometrist

• Physiotherapist

• Personal Trainer

• Bowen Therapist

• Mindset coach

Quite a list, really, and a couple of interesting choices there. I imagine you’ve probably got a list of people you see too – shorter or longer, but there’s plenty of other things to add to that list, if you wanted to.

Even these experts refer to others in their field – doctors can’t operate on themselves, dentists can’t pull their own teeth out, and a chiropractor can’t adjust themselves.

So – my point here is that we are confident in talking to experts about our health. It is something that we do as a matter of course.

BUT – what I’ve observed is that many people are somewhat less inclined to talk to an expert about their finances than their health. Why is that?

Well, it might be due to the way we were brought up. Some of us were brought up (this includes me) in households where money was NOT discussed – in fact it was a taboo subject – and financial matters were certainly NOT to be discussed in front of children - regardless of their age.

That whole issue of privacy – or more correctly, secrecy - has had generations of Australians being scared to talk to people about their personal finances.

Conservatism and privacy, in that respect, have held people back by not engaging them in financial conversations.

Well, what’s all this got to do with your financial health?

The point I’m getting to here is that we ALL need experts to look at our financial health as well as our physical health.

We all really need a team of experts around us – and regardless of how much we think we know, there is always someone with superior knowledge. From my perspective, I’m always looking for people like that, because …..

“If I’m the smartest man in the room, I’m in the wrong room”

I have a team of experts around me, that help me with my financial health. After 30 years in the money and finance industry and 17 years in business – I still have a lot to learn!!

So, my personal expert team includes:

• Accountants

• Financial Planners

• Business mentors

• Investment advisors

• Property advisors

• Book keeper

• Lawyers

• Property manager

• Stock broker

• Property developers

• Mortgage broker network

Obviously, because I’m a mortgage broker, I do my own finance, but I utilise a network of other brokers and we all help each other with information & knowledge – certainly in a non-competitive way.

What I would suggest to you is that you should probably have a bunch of these people on YOUR team as well.

Getting the right people on your team is key – I’m quite happy to share my experts with you if you want someone to talk to.

But the key message is to take responsibility for your financial health as well – talk to the right experts about the right thing.

Your Financial Health Check can start with The Investor Hub – we can review your asset and credit profiles and identify strengths and weaknesses - the same way your GP would when he or she does your medical check-up.