My student days are over – Time to face the future – words Amy Turnbull

When you have a mountain of university work to finish, the last thing on your mind is student finance or life after you graduate.

You can easily get caught up in the financial safety bubble provided by student finance and your parents, your student discount card, but in reality, life after graduating needs careful financial planning.

Your circumstances, financial situation and your needs change. Welcome to adult life. You wave goodbye to your student accommodation and your part-time job, and say hello to full time employment and all the responsibilities that go with it. My student days ended in much the same way.

Everyone has different priorities and every individual’s goal will be unique to them, but whatever your goal, achieving it will require financial planning. ISA investor provider, True Potential Investor, explains more:

 

 

Set your goals

Physical necessities are common goal amongst many of us – whether it’s a car to make your daily commute easier, or your first home, you’ll need to make sure they are manageable and achievable. I ended my student days with no idea what to do next. It might be a good idea to find out all you can about student loan consolidation for starters.

To new graduates, it might sound mad starting to contribute towards your pension now. In reality, the sooner you do, the better. True Potential’s Tackling The Savings Gap Q3 2016 report found that you’ll need an annual income of £23,000 to live comfortably in retirement. In contrast, UK citizens are on course to receive just £6,000 per year, so startiniks g saving as soon as you can is important.

Quantify your goals

Whilst setting your goals is easy, if you don’t quantify them, it can be easy to fall behind on them. Set a timeframe that is manageable and achievable – you don’t want to leave yourself short for your other outgoings. Put away what you can afford, baring in mind your current outgoings and lifestyle to make sure that you can live comfortably throughout.

Create a budget

Before setting yourself a monthly budget, you’ll need to consider all your current financial outgoings — it may be easier to do this by grouping them into categories, such as housing, utilities and more. This should be a true picture of all your outgoings. Painting a false picture can result in you putting too much money aside and putting strain on your other finances. You want to still be able to live comfortably whilst saving and/or investing.

You can also consider if there are any areas that you can cut back on so that you can put away a little more.

Invest in the right product

The right product is vital to support the growth of your money for your future. Investing your money in products such as ISAs (individual saving accounts) including Stocks and Shares ISAs can grow your initial financial advance into a greater sum of money. Of course, there is a level of risk involved, so you should carefully consider your choice.

With investing, your capital is at risk. Investments can fluctuate in value and you may get back less than you invest. Tax rules can change at any time.

My student days are over – Time to face the future – words Amy Turnbull