This is the fifth article from our new contributor Vanessa Stoykov. Learn more about the Investment Series, the Nine Network Show her company created, and the Morningstar companion guide to the show.

 

My final unlearn pillar is a big one: action.

It's the pillar that can make or break your financial success. It's also the thing most people don't know quite enough about to really make it work for them.

The thing about action most of us need to unlearn is that there is no single thing you need to get or do to make your financial goals a reality.

Rather, a cascading set of actions is needed--it's not difficult once you understand what you need, but is it impossible to truly succeed if you don't know what you need to get you there.

There are many aspects of action that most of us need to unlearn. The most basic one, but often the toughest, is actually doing something. I know I want to lose five kilos, but am I really prepared to give up that morning muffin?

My lack of action towards losing that five kilos means it's a pipe dream--not something I am prepared to action to get what I want.

Funnily enough, money works pretty much the same way. You may know that you need savings but every month there is nothing left. Pay the savings first, before you spend a cent of your income, and adjust to living off the rest.

Most of us delay action, because we are delaying pain. It's been said by many psychologists that as human beings we are either moving toward pleasure, or moving away from pain. The muffin is short-term pleasure, and the tight pants are long-term pain.

Getting life insurance is hard to understand, expensive, and just plain boring to organise, but having the worst happen would create deep long-term pain.

At this point in the journey of unlearning, I am going to share with you the biggest single thing I did to change my financial future and take action.

My husband and I picked the right financial adviser. It really wasn't harder than that. There were many lessons along the way that I had to learn but the best thing we did was to find the right adviser.

It was through this relationship that we were able to come up with a solid plan of action. One that gave both my husband and I total peace of mind about our future--across all scenarios.

Working with our adviser we put a solid timeline around the following:

• Credit cards: How long it would take us to pay them off and never rack them up again?

• Emergency savings: Could we get three months in a high interest account and never touch it unless we were burning?

• Our kids' future: Could we put away money every month that earned compounding interest for our kids' university fees, cars, lives?

• Living money: How much did we really need to have a good life every month? The rest we moved at the start of the month so we did not get tempted.

• Investing outside super: What funds, what timeframe, and what should we pay?

While I have been in the financial services industry for well over 20 years, and probably knew the investing part pretty well, the other steps were the ones I needed to take to get my wealth plan on track.

These things don't all happen in a matter of months. This cascading plan takes years to achieve--but with a plan you can tick the list off knowing that you are moving ever closer to the future you want.

It's a great feeling. Remember that show The A-Team? I always loved it when Hannibal would say: "I love it when a plan comes together."

That's how I felt when we found the right adviser. And you can too.

So, think carefully about the action you need to take to get peace of mind and what you want.

Because you deserve it.

More from Morningstar

• Should you buy currency ETFs?

• T. Rowe Price: European stocks have higher to climb

• Make better investment decisions with Morningstar Premium | Free 4-week trial

 

Vanessa Stoykov is the founder and chief executive of evolution media group. This is a financial news article to be used for non-commercial purposes and is not intended to provide financial advice of any kind. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to the opinions or recommendations of Morningstar as a result of using different assumptions and criteria.

© 2017 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither Morningstar, its affiliates, nor the content providers guarantee the data or content contained herein to be accurate, complete or timely nor will they have any liability for its use or distribution. This information is to be used for personal, non-commercial purposes only. No reproduction is permitted without the prior written consent of Morningstar. Any general advice or 'class service' have been prepared by Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd (ABN: 95 090 665 544, AFSL: 240892), or its Authorised Representatives, and/or Morningstar Research Ltd, subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc, without reference to your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please refer to our Financial Services Guide (FSG) for more information at www.morningstar.com.au/s/fsg.pdf. Our publications, ratings and products should be viewed as an additional investment resource, not as your sole source of information. Past performance does not necessarily indicate a financial product's future performance. To obtain advice tailored to your situation, contact a licensed financial adviser. Some material is copyright and published under licence from ASX Operations Pty Ltd ACN 004 523 782 ("ASXO"). The article is current as at date of publication.