How to get your finances back on track after summer

When is a 99 with a flake not really a 99? When it’s £7! This year’s hot weather has led to some eye watering surge pricing, including reports that one ice cream van outside the British Museum in London is charging £7 for a basic vanilla ice cream cone with one scoop and a flake. 

But summer madness doesn't last forever. It’s already feeling strangely autumnal now that we’ve hit September and that ‘back to school’ feeling brings quieter roads, normal routines, and rather more sensible ice cream prices. 

It’s also a good time to get back to more practical matters that have a tendency to get pushed aside over the holidays. With the final quarter of the year in sight, and the Autumn Budget not far behind it on 28 October, it’s a good time, in other words, for a proper financial check-up.

Think of it as a financial MOT. Just as a car needs periodic checks to keep running smoothly, your finances also benefit from a regular look-over because small inefficiencies, left unchecked, tend to compound. So let’s take a look:

Tyres: your emergency fund

Tyres are what keep you steady when the road gets bumpy, and your emergency fund does much the same job. An emergency fund should set aside enough to cover the unexpected - a boiler breaking down for example – and means a bump in the road stays just that, rather than turning into a crisis. If summer spending has left your savings looking a bit deflated, September is a good time to start topping them back up.

Brakes: your protection

Brakes exist for the moment you hope you never need them. Protection works the same way - income protection, life cover and critical illness cover. It's easy to overlook protection when things are going well, and when we feel fit and healthy, which is exactly why it's worth checking to see if you have what you need. If you have cover, has anything changed since you last reviewed it: a new job, a bigger mortgage, a growing family? If so, it's worth checking your cover still matches where you are now, not where you were when you took it out. If you don’t have any protection insurance, it’s never too late to set some up.

Engine: your pensions and investments

The engine is what actually gets you where you're going, and for most people, your pensions and investments do the heavy lifting here towards retirement and other long-term goals. A quick check-in is never wasted time: are your contributions still on track, does your investment approach still suit your circumstances, and are there any old workplace pensions sitting forgotten with a previous employer? None of these are urgent on their own, but left unchecked for long enough, small things can add up.

Fuel: your cash flow

Without fuel, you can’t travel, and without any real clarity on where your money's going each month, it's hard to make progress towards anything. Take a good look at what's coming in against what's going out; are there subscriptions you've forgotten you're paying for, is there any spending that’s regularly crept up without you noticing, or is there room to redirect some money towards something that actually matters to you? A clear picture of your cash flow is one of the simplest ways to feel back in control, and often the quickest thing to sort.

Warning lights: what needs attention

Every car has warning lights for a reason - ignore them and small issues become expensive ones. Financial warning lights work the same way; maybe it's a pension you've been meaning to consolidate, a will that hasn't been updated in years, or a tax allowance you're at risk of losing before the tax year ends. September gives you a proper run-up to deal with these things calmly, rather than scrambling in March when everyone else is doing the same.

Book your financial MOT

Just like a car, your finances tend to run better with regular check-ups rather than waiting until something goes wrong. If any of the above struck a chord, we'd love to help you take stock - no jargon, no pressure, just a proper look at where you are and what's worth focusing on before things get busy heading into year-end.

Book your complimentary 20-minute financial MOT with Mike here or John Paul here.