It’s been a massive year for the Rask team, and we’ve all discovered plenty about our finances. In this article, we share our team’s biggest personal finance lessons during 2021.
From the value of compounding to the importance of your super, there’s something for everyone here.
Lachlan Buur-Jensen – Rask Media Contributor
How easy it is to forget about subscriptions that you only plan to sign up for one month (Netflix, Disney, Audible, WSJ). If you only want to use it for a month, cancel the subscription the same day you sign up. That way you only pay for one month and can still use it for the remaining 1 month period.
Value Downunder – Rask Media Contributor
Keep on saving. The same lesson every year, make sure to pay your future self first. The eighth wonder of the world – compounding – requires lots of contributions early on, and so one just has to find a way to save.
Monique Pizzica – Podcast Producer & Videographer
Saving the money I would have spent on dinners, gigs, social events throughout Covid lockdowns has really helped build up my emergency fund again after using it for a deposit on my apartment. Having an emergency fund really does ease the stress just in case anything pops up!
Sally O’Brien – Graphic Designer & Copy Editor
The value of looking into your super! I’ve previously had employers that didn’t pay my super regularly so I’ve discovered that it’s important to set aside time to investigate your account and become a financial superhero!
Jaz Harrison – Rask Media Contributor
I think 2021 showed that people are willing to pay very high prices for assets like houses (and sometimes take on a lot of debt) even if it may not make a lot of sense for longer-term economic conditions like rising interest rates. We’ll have to see what happens next in this regard.
Raymond Jang – Rask Invest Analyst
If you’re in a sound financial position with more than enough savings to cover expenses over the long term, salary sacrificing can provide a lot of value. It ultimately enables you to save on taxation and provide greater capital for your superannuation fund to compound.
Kate Campbell – Community & Education
This past year has reinforced the importance of having a healthy emergency fund, to feel more confident facing life head-on and investing without worrying about short-term movements in the market.
The “sleep at night” factor will be critical to my investment success over the next decade, and something I’m starting to prioritise (especially given I’ve been investing in smaller and more volatile companies).
Cathryn Goh – Rask Analyst
It’s not specific to 2021, but my go-to personal finance favourite is always the power of compounding. After all, Albert Einstein famously said compounding is the eighth wonder of the world. A quick look at a compound interest calculator never ceases to amaze me. Whether it’s a savings account, passive ETFs or shares, if you’re in the position to invest your money the key is just getting started. The sooner you can get compounding to work in your favour, the better.
Owen Rask – Founder & Lead Analyst
Patience and knowing my jar size. I wanted to invest more of my income in stocks and ETFs this year. Much more. But we’re in the middle of big renovations. Normally, I would use my spare time (before and after work, weekends, etc.) to do almost all of the renovations myself. In addition to saving thousands on cost, I enjoy it. However, in the latter part of this year I was strapped for time (I normally work 6+ days per week #founderlife).
The result on my personal finances was we ended up spending a lot more on the property, to the detriment of my investing capacity. This was bitterly disappointing. The lesson here was that it’s okay to have personal finance/investing goals and not meet them.
Your jar is only as big as it is. Sometimes what you try to fit into it just won’t go — and that’s okay.
Over to you
So there you have it folks, our team’s biggest personal finance lessons during 2021!
Now it’s your turn to reflect on what you’ve learnt about your personal finances during the year. If you’re game, we’d love you to share them with us on social media or within our FB Community.
This article formed part of our 2021 wrap, which includes:
