Time for a financial progress check

March 31 not only brings the end of the financial year, it also draws the first quarter of 2011 to a close, making it a great time to look at how your financial goals are tracking.

30 March 2011
It’s a timely opportunity to take stock of your finances and look at any areas where you can make improvements. Making a regular habit of reviewing and resetting your goals will help you achieve the things you want.

If you set yourself goals at the start of 2011 check whether you are still on track to achieving them. If you are happy with your progress, think about what you can do to reach your goals faster.

If you find you haven’t stayed on course, think about the lessons you can learn from this. Instead of giving up, identify what went wrong and how you can get back on track.

For example, if your goal was to get rid of your credit card debt, but your credit card bill has crept back up again, look at your spending and how you might be able to avoid this in the future. Are there any areas where you can reduce your spending, so you can pay off your credit card faster?

If you didn’t make a plan in 2011, there’s no time like the present to make one.
Sorted.org.nz offers a My Goals worksheet
where you can write down your goals and set actions to achieve them. You can save and review them later and even request email reminders. This is a great way to help you stay on track.

Since it’s the end of the financial year, think about whether you need to file a tax return. If you don’t have a business, it’s unlikely you’ll need to. But in some cases, like if you have made donations, you may be eligible for a refund. Or, if you've earned money that hasn't been taxed you'll need to file a return.

To check out whether this applies to you, go to this page on the IRD web site.

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