Managing your wealth, including assets and money, is crucial for promoting growth and avoiding a decline in value. Wealth management aids in the assessment of financial resources and supports you in making well-informed choices to reach your financial objectives, as highlighted by Forbes.
However, wealth planning can negatively affect different aspects of your financial well-being if done poorly, potentially putting your home and lifestyle at risk in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
A well-structured wealth management plan helps prevent such scenarios by providing a comprehensive strategy to protect and grow your assets, ensuring financial security even during uncertain times.
This article outlines several strategies you can follow to make sure your wealth is properly managed and aligned with your financial targets.
What is Wealth Management?
According to Investopedia, wealth management is an investment advisory that covers all aspects of your financial situation.
Wealth management can also be straightforward, such as assisting you with investing a portion of your funds. However, it can also be more extensive.
The international wealth management group Investec highlights that a comprehensive financial review covers every aspect of your finances, such as your spending habits and approaches to improving tax efficiency.
According to the online learning platform Tutor2u, factors like property prices, stock market performance, income levels, and inflation can damage your wealth over time, potentially leaving you with insufficient funds for retirement or inheritance.
Using wealth planning strategies can protect your finances from these threats and ensure you have enough left for you and your heirs.
Since personal wealth management encompasses various aspects of your financial health, investors or high net-worth individuals often use a combination of tools to address each of these areas. But as your wealth grows, juggling multiple platforms can get tricky.
When that happens, an integrated approach to wealth management could be the answer. This refers to the consolidation of financial data from multiple sources into a single tool.
Such tools are often referred to as asset tracking or asset management software. It can simplify the process by digitising all your records and offering a comprehensive view of your overall financial health.
8 Strategies for Managing Wealth
Below are eight proven techniques that investors follow at the early stages of growing their wealth portfolio. You should read through the list and identify which strategy you are missing in your financial plan.
1. Create a Budget Plan
A budget plan outlines how you allocate your money and where you prioritise spending. Budgeting helps you track where your money goes, and whether your spending is aligned with your goals. It should also contain a contingency plan in case of unforeseen events.
One suggested technique for budget planning is the 50-30-20 rule. This tells you to split your expenses into three categories: 50% to your needs, 30% to your wants, and 20% to savings.
Alternatively, you can consider seeking advice from wealth management companies or a professional financial planner to craft a more customised plan for your unique situation.
2. Track Your Spending
Track your expenses by listing all of your purchases, including regular payments for bills, groceries, entertainment and other expenses, as noted by Forbes.
If you track your spending pattern, you can easily see where you can cut unnecessary spending at the end of the week or month.
You can opt to do this manually, using a spreadsheet, or through a finance manager app. If you are using a spreadsheet, you should have one column listing different expense categories such as utilities, groceries, and transportation.
Then, input the spend amounts in a different column. Spreadsheets can easily calculate sum, and monitor how much disposable income you have left for the month.
If you make frequent purchases or have multiple income streams, using financial management software can save you time by consolidating your total monthly income and expenses in one place.
One benefit of using wealth manager apps is its inherent data analysis capabilities that can assess patterns in your spending habits.
3. Set a Realistic Timeline For Your Goals
According to Bobbie Rebell, personal finance expert and author of the book Launching Financial Grownups, securing finances involves being proactive in your approach and laying out specific goals to track.
Having a clear deadline ahead provides you with a sense of direction and allows you to evaluate your goal progress.
When setting a timeline, make sure the goal is aligned with your current financial situation. If you are saving for a down payment on a house in six months but your current savings cannot cover even 10% of your projected amount, then a longer timeline can make your goal attainable.
Or if you want to hit the six-month deadline, you may consider investing your savings in short-term opportunities to increase your funds. You can also take a side hustle or sell some assets to increase your savings.
4. Build an Emergency Fund
Anyone can face financial emergencies regardless of their net worth. Building an emergency fund serves as a barrier to not drain your wealth.
According to a multinational banking and financial services company HSBC, an emergency fund is a reserved quantity of cash intended for unexpected expenses, unplanned bills or payments that are not part of your regular monthly budget.
You can start your emergency fund with small amounts of £10 or £50 weekly to avoid straining your cash flow.
You can choose to divert some of your spending to your emergency fund, for instance, reducing your monthly coffee cups from 20 to 10, or skip buying a new dress every other month. The point is that it should become a routine for you and not a continuous challenge.
5. Invest Early
While storing money in bank accounts protects your wealth, its financial value can decrease over time due to inflation. This is why finance coach Matthew Blume advocates for early investment to keep up with the rise in the cost of living.
You can choose a long-term investment such as acquiring properties and assets, or a more short-term business investment. Your decision will ultimately rest on your timeline and the level of risk you are willing to take.
For example, you plan to buy a home in five years. In this case, you can prioritise investments in cash savings and low-risk bonds over stocks since you need to access your funds within a few years.
6. Diversify Your Investment Portfolio
Creating a diversified portfolio involves investing in various asset classes with different levels of risks and returns. This investment strategy manages risk and optimises returns by utilising stocks, bonds, real estate, and equities.
You can spread your investments among the following types of assets:
- Stocks: This represents partial ownership in the company that issues it. It provides long-term growth but carries greater risk.
- Bonds: A loan provided by an investor to a borrower, (usually a corporation or government entity) with fixed income. This is considered less volatile than stocks.
- Real Estate: This can refer to land any permanent structures attached to it, whether natural or man-made. This type of asset protects you against the risk of inflation.
- Cryptocurrencies: A digital currency that uses cryptography to secure online transactions. It is considered one of the riskiest assets due to limited historical data.
If one of your assets has a negative return, it can be offset by another asset class if your portfolio is diverse.
7. Optimise Tax-Efficient Investments
Tax-efficient investing is a strategy used to maximise returns while minimising tax-related losses.
One good example is the Individual Savings Account (ISA). It allows you to invest up to £20,000 without incurring taxes on any returns, making it a popular choice for young investors.
There are several types of ISA:
- Cash ISA: This works as a savings account but with no interest. It allows you to access your money anytime, or only a certain number of times and gives you the option to lock money for a fixed term.
- Stocks and Shares ISA: This allows you to invest without paying income tax, or capital gains tax on any profits for at least five years. It provides access to different investments such as stocks, bonds, or property.
- Lifetime ISA: This helps you save up to £4,000 every tax year for your first home or retirement. On top of that, the government adds a 25% (£1,000) bonus to your savings.
- Innovative Finance ISA: This enables you to utilise tax-free ISA allowance while participating in peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding.
As a fundamental rule in investing, always try to lessen your taxes. Tax-efficient investments maximise the growth of your accounts in the long run.
If you are unsure which type of account works best for you or how to maximise your tax savings, you can consult a wealth management firm or a personal financial adviser.
8. Pay off Debts
One final strategy for managing your wealth is to pay off your debts. When you have less debt, you have more resources to invest, save, or spend on assets that generate returns.
According to financial planning expert Bob Chitrathorn, “Debt with idle money is wasted money” – meaning, the longer your money remains unused, the more you end up paying interest charges.
Say, you have £1,523 in savings and are facing a 20% interest rate on your credit card debt. In that case, it may be wise to prioritise paying off your debt first. Using your savings to clear your debt saves you more money in the long run because you pay a lower interest amount.
Manage Your Wealth Proactively
You can combine various strategies to optimise your financial resources and grow your wealth. Some wealth management strategies include creating a budget plan, and tracking your spending using digital tools or investments.
When you invest, it is advisable to diversify your portfolio through different asset classes such as stocks, bonds, real estate, cryptocurrencies, and other forms of investments. This approach reduces your financial risks while increasing the potential for long-term growth.
The eight strategies outlined above as shared by personal finance experts are not comprehensive but offer your good starting points for managing your wealth. They also give you a good grasp of the complexities of managing wealth.
Personal Wealth Management: Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the best way to manage wealth?
The best way to manage your wealth is through saving, investing, and staying up-to-date on financial markets. Seeking expert advice may also be beneficial for maximising your assets.
2. How do you take care of wealth?
Effectively manage your finances by learning how to handle your money and investing wisely to grow your wealth.
3. How can I organise my money better?
Create a budget to track your expenses. Make sure that you prioritise saving and avoid unnecessary spending to stick with your budget.
Consolidate Financial Assets with MyAssets
Diversification of assets is undeniably one of the most effective strategies for growing wealth. On the other hand, tracking multiple assets can prove challenging, especially when you want to consolidate all information in one place. Thankfully, MyAssets offers a centralised platform to simplify this process.
Whether you have investments in stocks, bonds, real estate, or cryptocurrencies, MyAssets can help you keep track of all your asset information in one place.
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