How To Improve Your Financial Literacy

Many of ActOn Wealth’s first-time clients tell us they do not really understand numbers or finance. It is our job to convince them otherwise – and show that we all have the capacity to be financially literate and even become passionate about finance. It’s true – finance can be so much fun it should come with an addiction warning. And if you detected a challenge, there, you’d be right!

But before we look at how to learn financial literacy, we should first answer the sceptics – why become financially literate in the first place?

Why is financial literacy important?

Empowerment. It’s that simple; knowledge is power, and when it comes to your wealth, you want to be in control and in the driving seat. When you understand key financial concepts, you can grasp where and how your wealth fits into that picture. A strong base-level understanding encourages you to ask more of the right, smart questions, those dig-deeper queries that get to the crux of what you want and how you want to get there.

We liken it to understanding another language. If you go to a foreign, non-English speaking country and all you can understand is English; your experience will be fairly superficial, no matter how enjoyable. You’ll be blissfully unaware of what’s going on around you. Locals might be getting better deals than you. You might miss certain hot spots because you can’t be in the know. People might not be as friendly because they don’t think you’re making much effort. It’s not too different in the world of finance. If you don’t understand, you miss the detail, your experience is not as rich, and the rewards won’t be as significant. So, when clients appoint us, we don’t simply share the what and the where; we explore the why and the how.

If you’re convinced and you now want to be fluent in finance, let’s find out how!

1. Appoint an ActOn Wealth financial advisor

Ha – we could not miss this opportunity, could we? But seriously, an ActOn Wealth wingman fast-tracks a financial literacy course. Our ActOn Wealth team can share the most important elements without getting bogged down in detail. We cover things thoroughly to ensure you’ve understood and had a truly 360 perspective. When it comes to finance, we’re passionate. We’re here to grow your wealth and we want you to be as excited in the process as we are! But we don’t just impart that knowledge face-to-face. To make knowledge as accessible as possible, we have compiled an enormous amount of information in our online financial knowledge bankas well as our blog. Enjoy the read but don’t forget, you can always just come to us directly with a question – we’re here to help!

2. Listen to financial podcasts

This is such an easy way to learn, isn’t it? Just plug in the earphones, download an episode and settle in. We’d go as far as saying this is almost subconscious learning, especially when the series is as entertaining as it is informative. We like listening to She’s on the money, My Millennial Money and The Australian Finance Podcast.

3. Follow financial experts online

What social media channels do you use? Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok? There are financial experts across them all. Curate a financial feed. Aim to get a good selection of people representing a broad base of opinions. Remember, you should never have all your eggs in one basket when it comes to finance. We recommend people such as David Scutt, Alan Kohler, Effie Zahos and Assad Tannous.

4. Read the business section of your newspaper/news website

Have you typically used this section of the newspaper to wrap your fish and chips or clean your shower screen? We’re not suggesting you throw yourself in the deep end reading it from start to finish – begin by just skimming the headline stories. You will be amazed to see how much finance links to almost every other area of news and life. This will also really heighten your radar and enable you to connect dots ahead of others. They could well be dots leading to interest rate changes, economic downturns, stock market ebbs and flows. Becoming financially literate helps you to get ahead of the game.

5. Speak to friends

It can be interesting to just put finance out there in your everyday conversations. You will be surprised how many people have opinions or ideas to share when they know that door is open. Having everyday conversations with friends about finance can be a great way to normalise this topic and help each other out. Two heads may sometimes be better than one.

6. Start budget planning

Understanding your cashflow is the backbone of your financial literacy and a key stepping stone to growing your wealth. This is where ActOn Wealth’s best financial advisors can move you along in leaps and bounds with the right budget planner. We know how to break this down and, importantly, how to set realistic goals that will not infringe on your day-to-day enjoyments. When you get your head around your own cashflow budget, so much falls into place. We don’t want to overstate it but prepare for an epiphany!

Be mindful of your financial source

A word of caution – just be careful of your sources. The world is awash with fake news and self-confessed experts. If you want to believe money grows on trees, someone somewhere online will have written a convincing article suggesting it is already happening. They’ll go as far as declaring there’s an orchard in full dollar bloom. That’s another reason why we’re here. We’re an impartial sounding board and knowledge source that can help you determine fact from fiction, smart from reckless.

Contact a specialist finance planner today

We’re available for a no-cost, no-obligation initial meeting, so why not touch base with a top financial advisor from Melbourne? We’ll find that inner financial superstar waiting to be unleashed, and together we will grow your financial literacy and wealth!