Top Financial Goals for 2023

With the cost of living hitting household budgets, the Commonwealth Bank has shared Australians top financial goals for 2023.

The bank questioned over 1,000 of their customers and found:

93% of Australians have a financial goal for the New Year
51% say their top financial goal is to reduce living costs and expenses
50% want to spend less on non-essential items
41% want to find ways to earn extra income.

CBA Chief Behavioural Scientist, Will Mailer, said: “It’s that time of year when millions of Aussies will make New Year’s resolutions to get on top of their money, get in shape, or to live a greener lifestyle. Sadly, we also know that a huge number of these resolutions won’t make it to February, as statistics historically show that many of us fall back into old habits in the first weeks of the year.”

“Behavioural scientists have spent decades looking at why we so often plan to make lifestyle improvements, only to then overspend on the weekend and skip our gym visit. These insights help us to set up strategies that will increase the likelihood that those health, wealth and professional goals actually become regular behaviours and stick over time,” Mr Mailer said.

“We are certainly seeing demand for tools and services that help people to more consistently follow through on financial goals.”

Many experts point to financial planners as being the number one service to help people put in place a plan to ensure they follow through on their financial goals.

However, there are 5 practical tips from Behavioural Scientist Will Mailer that may also support you:

Avoid big and vague, focus on specific. “One of the mistakes we make is to be too vague in our resolutions. Saying we want to ‘get in shape’ or ‘get on top of our money’ is very hard for us to track, and does not provide a good starting point. Break down big goals into the one or two very specific behaviours that you will need to change. This might be saving a certain per cent of your pay each payday or to limit online shopping to a set day each week, with a nominated weekly spend limit. Where possible set up ways to track and measure these behaviours over time”
Create ‘if-this-then-that’ rules. “Behavioural science research4 has showed that follow-through rates can be higher when we are specific, not just about the goal itself, but how, when and where we plan to get there. Rather than saying you will spend less on unnecessary items, you might say that on the first Sunday of each month, I will reserve 60 minutes between 3pm and 4pm to review and cancel any unwanted online subscriptions at my kitchen table. This helps to anticipate any barriers to success, and builds the right cues into our lives for our desired behaviours.”
Build in incentives. It can be easy on New Year’s Eve to think about all the big changes you will make in January, but it’s another thing when that time rolls around and we have to take the difficult or boring actions to make it happen. One strategy that behavioural scientists consider is the use of commitment devices, or putting incentives in place to help your future self to follow through. For example, you might agree with your partner, that you will do the dishes for a week every time you miss your monthly budget target!”
Disrupt your environment. “Habits experts5 show that one of the best times to start a new habit is at a time of change in our lives. This could be moving house, changing jobs, or returning to a new work setup after summer break. It is a chance to reset our environments and set new habits with new triggers, rewards and feedback. Take advantage of the summer break, to shake-up your 2022 work rituals. You might plan for a new desk or commute close to the park rather than the shops, or a new project team that brings their lunch to work each day.”
Willpower is not enough. “Another common mistake is that we rely too much on willpower when setting goals for the New Year. Willpower can be great to help us get started, but often we can get overwhelmed when we’re exposed to temptations or when our internal autopilot takes over. It’s important to capitalise on the strong willpower up front to set up systems around us that will help us to sustain good behaviours, like setting up auto-transfers on our savings, subscribing to a health food delivery service or disabling alerts on our social media accounts.”

Where you can access help?

Contact our qualified Newcastle financial planners who will be able to provide you with the support, education, tools, plan and advice to increase the probability of achieving your financial goals in 2023.

Email: info@newcastleadvisor.com.au

Meet The Author

Matthew McCabe

Matthew McCabe is an expert financial planner who has been in the financial services industry for over 18 years. He specialises in supporting everyday Australians retire on their terms by making the complex seem simple.

Matthew is the founder of Newcastle Advisors, an organisation that is dedicated to empowering individuals through financial literacy and education, to ensure Australians have the tools and information to make an informed decision about their financial future.

Matthew has also been a finance expert contributor to the Newcastle Herald, Channel 7 News, Canberra Times, Starts at 60 and Hunter Headline.

Source: https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/newsroom/2022/12/new-years-resolutions-financial-goals.html