When you receive your payment summary from your employer this year, make a note of the total money you earned (if you are self employed you should have a bookkeeping system that will show what you have made). Subtract the tax you have paid and you are left with the amount that was put into your bank account over the year. Now go and dig out your old payment summaries from previous years (they used to be called group certificates) and do the same with these.
What’s your grand total? You might be surprised how much you have made over the years. You might be even more surprised when you compare this figure with how much you have in savings and investments, and the value of your net worth. Your net worth is a simple figure you can work out be subtracting the total of all your debts from the total value of all your assets. If the amount you have saved, or the amount of your net worth, is close to zero you might be feeling pretty ordinary. Particularly if the money you have made over the years is significant. Don’t panic. Don’t think it’s too late or too hard to change your situation.
Realising you need to make a few changes is the first step to making a positive change. The worst thing you can do, is nothing.