It is strange how on our financial journey through life, we often fail to see or even disregard the danger signs that lie ahead. Imagine driving a car and ignoring a ‘danger falling rocks’ or ‘caution slippery surface’ sign, not to mention visual dangers such as a hailstorm or a reckless truck swerving in front of you.

Would you overtake another car in a snowstorm? No?

Then why would you take such risks with your finances?

It is a commonly known fact that we tend to be much more careless with our money than our lives.

Warning signs that our finances are about to crash.

• Unnecessary spending – we love swiping our debit card and before we know it, we have no money left and still weeks to go before month end.
• Never ending payments – if you have too many payments on pay day, you may be over-extended e.g. credit cards, loans, memberships, subscriptions etc. Do you actually use the subscriptions or memberships you purchase?
• Living on borrowed money – if you are living on your credit card or loans every month, then you are in danger of a violent crash. 
• Spending too much on a home – taking out the maximum mortgage allowed could become problematic. Inflation could see you unable to keep up with your payments. Remember, owning your own home brings with it a lot of maintenance expenses.
• Living paycheck to paycheck – perhaps the biggest danger of all. Let’s face it, Life is tough, and it is difficult to save. But what happens if you have unforeseen emergency expenses or lose your job. How will you survive and pay your bills if you don’t have a back-up savings?
• Not investing in retirement – who will look after you when you retire one day, unless of course you are fortunate enough to have a huge trust fund or inheritance on the way? We are living longer and delaying saving for retirement even by a few years could leave you with not enough money to see you through.
• Paying off debt with savings – It is good to pay off debt, but if you use all your savings to pay off debt, how will you pay for emergencies? Take out more debt? Save first, then pay off debt. *

Not having a plan for your finances is a sure way to have a major financial accident that could leave you with financial injuries or disabilities for life. Chat to your financial adviser to get a plan of action in place to prevent a financial accident. [email protected]

*www.investopedia.com
Please note, the above is for education purposes only and does not constitute advice. You should always contact a financial adviser in the country you live for a personal consultation

* No liability can be accepted for any actions taken or refrained from being taken, as a result of reading the above.