Pause, Get Sorted!

If you’ve got your mind on your money, then you probably know that August is Money Month.

But I often hear that many people have no idea. So today, a bit of insight into what this month is all about.

Money Month is a public awareness and engagement campaign coordinated by Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, in partnership with the financial capability community.

This year's Money Month builds on last year's theme "Pause. Get sorted." The focus is on actions that can help people grow their money and build resilience – two pillars that are key to improving people's financial wellbeing.

The campaign is aligned to the National Strategy for Financial Capability’s purpose - working together to help demystify money.

It’s pretty cool to think that there are so many proactive resources to get people thinking and learning about money.

Yes, it’s easy to say that financial literacy should be taught in schools, but just because it isn’t (to the extent we believe it should be) doesn’t mean you and I can’t learn now that we’ve left school.

Of course, people have to want to though.

I got well into my late 20s before getting a bit more serious about it all.

For most people, they have a moment when they go, 'right enough is enough' and the journey begins.

What I like about Money Month is that it normalises conversations around money and encourages people to think about where they are at.

I think we are also seeing a lot more of this during a tough economic time. One positive that I have mentioned before is the number of people who are keen to learn more about money/finance/inflation, the economy or better still, sorting out an area of their finances.

Students of KTC know that I am a fan of doing something at least monthly and even weekly learning. But that might be a bridge too far for a lot of people.

To do my bit toward the national strategy of working together to help demystify money, I sat down in an online workshop with Sorted’s personal finance lead, Tom Hartmann and James Blair of Lighthouse Financial to celebrate Money Month with a special webinar.

On Tuesday night, myself, James and Tom went over the steps you need to grow your wealth and secure your financial future, including:

? Getting clear with your goals

? Budgeting and cashflow fundamentals

? Understanding debt

? Property as a wealth-creation tool

? How shares fit in with your investment strategy

? Protecting your wealth and accountability.

? Some of Sorted’s most popular online tools

The great thing about money is that everyone has a different take on these topics. We had a lot of fun adding our takes to the above steps as well as a few tangents!

I am going to list some actions I would love you to think about.

Actions:

1. If you couldn’t make it, check out the replay of the workshop from Tuesday night.

Youtube link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQxxqwGTpqo

Audio podcasts are loaded up too - check it out where you get your podcast fix.

2. Pass your favourite KTC podcast or post to a friend and tell them that it’s Sorted money month and that you thought that lesson or post might have been interesting for them.

There are also still a range of topics coming up as part of the remainder of Sorted’s money month. Check them out here: https://sorted.org.nz/money-month-events/

3. Sorted money month is every August. Set a calendar reminder for 1 August annually to go and see what events are on around the country that are run by Sorted or their partners. They will be live at the link above.

Right, you’ve got plenty of homework to do.

A reminder too, that decreasing interest rates has been a good reminder to Pause. Get sorted. We’ve spoken at length already about how cheaper interest rates mean we need to be more deliberate with what will happen with the extra cash flow we will have.

Also, I forgot to Pause and mention...the KTC Unplugged event is sold out. 320 people are locked in to come along and do some learning in September. Can’t wait to see some of you there.

Be bold,

Luke

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