Ten Minutes a Week to Safeguard Your Financial Independence

Why this matters

This guide is about ten minutes a week.

That is roughly how long it takes to look at what came into your accounts, what went out, and whether anything surprises you. A payment that stopped arriving. A charge that doubled. A withdrawal you did not make.

None of those are dramatic on their own. What makes them serious is time — months going by with nobody looking. Found in the first week, most are an annoying phone call. Found a year later, they can add up to a large share of your retirement savings.

The three steps below are how you spend that ten minutes.

Step 1: Know your money in

First, let’s look at all the money you have coming in each month. This might be from the Age Pension, your superannuation, or any investments.

A smart tip: simplify it. If your money comes from a few different places, it can be messy to track. Think about having all your income paid into one main bank account. This makes it much easier to see exactly what’s coming in and when. You have one place to look, which means less stress and confusion.

Step 2: Know your money out

You don’t need a budget or a spreadsheet. What matters is knowing roughly how much leaves your accounts each month.

Most of it will be the same things every month — rent or rates, power, phone, insurance, groceries, petrol, medicines. Add them up once and you have a number to work from. If you find it easier to group them, do, but it is the total that counts.

Then ask two questions:

Is this roughly what I expected? You know what your life costs. If the number is noticeably bigger than it feels like it should be, that is worth looking into.

Is it creeping up? Compare it to last month, and the month before. Spending creeps up for ordinary reasons — prices rise, a car gets older. It also creeps up when somebody else is spending your money. Either way, you want to notice the creep rather than discover it.

The first time you do this you have nothing to compare against. That is fine. Today’s number is your starting point.

And if more is going out than coming in, month after month, that needs an answer — whatever the reason turns out to be.

Step 3: The weekly check-in

This is the most important step for keeping your money safe. Once a week or once a fortnight, sit down with your bank statement.

Check what came in

• Did your pension, superannuation payment or rent arrive, on the day you expected?
• Is it the amount you expected?
• Is it going into the account you expected?

Money that stops arriving, or starts arriving somewhere else, matters just as much as money going missing.

If money has not arrived, contact whoever sends it — Centrelink, your super fund, your employer, or your tenant’s agent. Ask two things: was the payment made, and which account did it go to? A payment that was made but went somewhere else needs acting on straight away.

Check what went out

• Do you recognise every payment? You should know every shop, company or person on the list.
• Was there anything you did not authorise? A payment you did not make or agree to.
• Was there anything you did not expect? It may be perfectly legitimate — an annual fee, a price rise — but it is better to know now than to wonder later.

If something looks wrong, call your bank straight away, using the phone number on the back of your card. Tell them what you have seen. They will help you work out what it is and protect your account.

Ask for safeguards before anything goes wrong

You can also ask your bank to put protections in place. Banks differ in what they offer, but it is worth asking about:

• text or email alerts whenever money leaves your account
• a lower daily limit on transfers and withdrawals
• an arrangement where large or unusual payments need an extra step
• a note on your file so their staff know to take extra care

Most Australian banks have signed up to a code of practice that requires extra care for customers who may be at risk. You do not have to explain yourself to ask.

If reading through statements is hard work, this is a job worth sharing with someone you trust — with you, not for you.

It does not have to be perfect

None of this takes long, and none of it has to be done exactly right. Ten minutes a week is enough to notice when something has changed — and noticing early is the whole point.