How good is feeling you're at a fitness peak? 

It’s at these times that you start thinking about whether you could have been a pro athlete. You know, if you REALLY wanted to.

But when you find yourself sliding down from those fitness peaks, you start to remember why you’re not…

It’s no secret that maintaining peak physical fitness requires constant effort and consistency.

Turns out, the same goes for maintaining your financial fitness. You don’t stay at Warren-Buffet-level-savviness without putting in the hard yards.

So, in the spirit of a January reset, let’s run through how to build your financial fitness, how to track it over time, and how this process helps you work towards your financial independence. Yay! 

‍1. Build your financial fitness

Building up a solid financial workout plan starts with laying the foundations, which includes:

• Having savings (three months worth of expenses is a solid start)
• Having a super account (one - not ten!)
• Up to date money knowledge (RBA cash rate - u up?)
• Knowing your credit score (and tracking it overtime) 
• Taking account of all your debts (gotta face the music sometime)

But really, it’s a continuous journey that requires a lot of nurturing, and sometimes the help of others too.

2. Track your financial fitness 

The best way to suss how you’re tracking is to assess your current financial habits, the good, the bad, and the yeah-I-really-need-to-stop-doing-that. 

• Take stock by doing a spending plan (we know you’re sick of hearing the word budget). This will give you a sense of what you spend versus what you earn, and what you own versus what you owe. ‍

• Set up your financial goals for the year - e.g. “I will invest $2,000 in ETFs by June 30th 2024.”‍

• Quiz yourself - take a financial wellbeing quiz like the monthly money check-in in the Flux App and track your scores over time! Your financial wellbeing score places you on the spectrum between really struggling and absolutely smashing it

*FYI, in January 2023, Flux fam members had an average financial wellbeing score of 66%, which dropped to 50% by December 2023.

Not to throw shade but the RBA and their cash rate hikes maaaay have had something to do with that drop. 

Once you’ve set up your goals, you’re in a great spot (woohoo!). But it can still be tough to work out what actions to take in your financial journey and if you’re progressing in the right direction.

You know you’re saving money, but are you saving enough? Are you setting yourself up well enough for your financial goals?! Aaargh!!

To help you navigate your path with a little bit of light, here are some Australian financial health averages to ponder.

• Average mortgage size - $610,000
• Median borrowing age - 34.5
• Average credit card balance - $2,993
• Median full time salary - $1,600 pw ($83,200 pa)
• Average full time salary - $1,838.60 pw ($95,607 pa)
• Average savings balance - $34,000 (but this varies a lot by age, and with men having larger savings than women)

Note: use these numbers with a generous side-serving of salt. 

These statistics might point you in the right direction of where you need to focus, but it’s important that you focus on what financial fitness looks like for you.

Context is important; we all have out own set of resources and individual financial journey, so these numbers might not apply to you in as straightforward a way.

Maintaining financial fitness is all about knowing where you’re at and taking action to go one step further, and then another.

3. Gun for financial independence! 

You improve your financial fitness by taking actions towards your money goals. Overtime, and with consistency, this leads you towards financial independence.

You got dis!