Who is in charge of your money?

I’m not a financial adviser, but I do take a professional interest in the way people manage their money.

While some of us might be bored senseless at the thought of managing money or paying bills or discussing budgets – let alone living on a budget (or spending plan as I prefer to call them!), it’s important that you at least have a clue about what’s going on financially in your life, home, partnership, business – whatever.

Wiping your hands of it and handing the responsibility on to someone else just doesn’t cut it. It’s not responsible, it’s not empowering, it’s not smart and it’s fraught with danger.

You don’t have to micro-manage or even take over complete management of your finances, but you do need to share the burden, responsibility and awareness.

Sitting down regularly with your life partner or business partner, and if you don’t have those, your accountant or financial planner and discussing your finances is good practice. Talking about your plans, goals, dreams, debt, savings, mortgage balance, business account balance, renovation or business expansion plans, holidays, investments – anything and everything financial, is a grown-up, sensible thing to do.

What would happen if one day you had to manage it alone? This could happen because of death, divorce, impairment, business partnership breakdown – a whole swag of reasons. Would you cope? Where would you start?

Sharing the financial burden – or at least dipping your toe into the financial pool, is a smart thing to do.

Be smart. Be smart today.