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The Finance Guru Within

Under Family Category: Family Finance

Picture of Finance Guru Within ImageLook before you leap, don’t spend more than you earn – trust your commonsense and you’ve discovered the best-ever source of financial advice.

Most families finances aren’t in the Wall Street league, and although we often feel like we’re mismanaging them due to lack of expertise or straightforward ignorance, in fact we’re usually doing a pretty good job. The truth is, unless you’re in the position to take your investments up a few notches, some low-key research and informal learning will give you enough helpful tips to increase your financial confidence. And the ultimate truth is that using commonsense is still the safest way to handle your finances.

If you’re interested in increasing your financial savvy, just becoming familiar with the terminology and the general movement of the money markets and the economy can help with your household budgeting – whether you need to account for a rise in mortgage payments later in the year, for example, or whether you’ll need to put more into the petrol budget when OPEC announces an oil price rise.

Although the newspapers’ business and finance pages and the specialist money magazines are full of this information, not many of us have the time (nor the inclination, probably) to wade through them and distill what we need. It’s much easier to turn on the TV and take advantage of the basic market wrap that now follows just about every news program. The radio can be a great resource for this kind of information as well. Tune in to ABC News Radio while you’re driving to work or the shops or wherever, or have it on in the background while you cook or clean or whatever, and you’ll pick up all sorts of useful stuff.

I Am Woman, Watch Me Count
In my experience, even though a woman is far more likely to say she is financially illiterate than a man is, women are often as competent – if not more so – than their male counterparts. During my time as host of TV’s The Small Business Show, I’d encounter men who were ostensibly running the operation but could not give me any financial details. “Oh, the wife does the books,” they’d say without a hint of irony.

The fact is that a woman running a household is already far more in the know financially than many men who leave all their business affairs to someone else. Just think about it – we’ve all managed to leave our parents’ home and survive, and now we’re running our own household, so we’ve clearly developed some degree of money-handling skills. And this invaluable knowledge comes from the best testing ground: trial and error, simple old clichés and things your mother taught you.

Another Shopping Oppurtunity
Your attitude to money-related issues can really affect how well you do out of them. If you’re applying for a loan, for example, look at the experience like a shopping expedition. Go in well prepared – have a general idea of who’s offering what and the extras that are available – and shop around, with the aim of striking a bargain where you can.

These days that applies to everything from buying a car or house to negotiating the loan with which you purchase them. Where once upon a time banks were an intimidating place, where you went cap in hand for a loan and thought yourself lucky if they deigned to lend you money, today it’s a different story and these institutions should be competing for your business.

Go to home loan centres as well as banks and ask (incredulously if you like), “Is that your best rate?” Then see what else they’ll do to sweeten the deal – suggest they might lower the fees and other charges, for example. This is where a bit of extra research and knowledge can help. It allows you to be in control of the situation instead of relying on the lender to tell you how it is.

When The Going Gets Tough
Having said how easy financial management can be, it’s important to acknowledge that it can also become quite complex. And that’s why the single most important thing to do is to ask questions. Never be afraid to say you don’t understand anything someone tells you regarding the terms of a loan, the penalties for nonpayment, the conditions of a warranty – anything! And keep demanding answers until you’re satisfied. The smartest business people in the world are the ones who are never embarrassed to ask for more information.

However, that doesn’t mean you should let anyone treat you like an idiot. Unfortunately, there continues to be no shortage of people who patronise women with comments such as, “You probably wouldn’t understand this”, or, “Would you like to check this with your husband?” If the person you are dealing with makes you feel uncomfortable, find someone else. It’s your money, after all.

If you have asked the right questions, you should be able to avoid another big risk for women: STDs – sexually transmitted debt. This is when a woman is liable for her husband or partner’s debts because she has signed documents that leave her financially exposed. Never sign anything without reading it first and understanding the implications.

So here’s another tip to take away: no matter how much you love or trust someone, when it comes to money, be realistic not romantic.

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