Why financial wellbeing includes having a Will

We have so many markers of financial wellbeing, and there’s often an accepted pathway to it. Getting your financial affairs in order means having savings in the bank, having a plan for investment, putting money aside for your retirement, paying down debt and so on. When you think about being financially well, it mostly comes down to the plans that you have in place to look after your assets, grow your net worth, and stay afloat, without getting dragged down by borrowing too much or letting your spending get out of control.

There’s another element to that planning that often gets overlooked however. When you’re looking ahead at what the future looks like, financial wellbeing also means having your Will in place.

When you look at buying a house, you need to think about where that house will go.

Instead of thinking about a Will as being a document that exists “just in case” it’s actually important to think of it as a necessary piece of information, a necessary plan that you have to get sorted every time your life and your circumstances change, so that it becomes a part of your financial wellbeing at every step. It’s the final piece of each financial decision that you and your family make together.

Your assets are going to have an enormous amount of value, not just as financial investments, but as investments in your life and your family.

A part of having your assets in a place where you are financially well and things feel like they’re taken care of is going to be making sure you know what will happen to those assets in the event of your death. By putting together a Will online and writing a Will that represents your wishes, you can cover that crucial element of your financial health.

If you buy a family home, think of that purchase as not being complete and not being finished until the Will is finished along with it!

Your finances aren’t just for the here and now - they’re about the responsibilities you develop too.

It’s certainly easier just to think about your financial wellbeing in terms of your lifespan and what you want to achieve. But there are responsibilities that we pick up along the way - from kids and dependents to spouses to community responsibilities to causes and charities that are important to us. Our financial plans need to be making provisions for these responsibilities too, if we want to be in a position where that wellbeing is as solid as possible.

Protecting your assets matters, and protecting where they go and who will take them on is a core part of the financial planning process. It’s what finalises your decision making.

When you look at your own monetary planning with the end of the financial year behind us, and start to think about what your financial wellness goals are going to be in the year ahead, you should begin to consider writing a Will as an element of that process. It’s something everyone should get in place and get down, and doing it proactively now is a great way to consolidate.