Today marks the end of my first week back to work after my month-long paternity leave. Enough time to tackle a Kilimanjaro-sized pile of emails, dip a tentative toe back into the news agenda, and generally plug back into work mode after four weeks of domestic upheaval.
I’m now the proud father of two bouncing boys: one newborn, one slightly confused toddler. This expansion of my family is obviously a lovely thing but, as I noted when my firstborn arrived, it forces some tricky thinking about the future.
In summary, I have an extra mouth to feed in a country with poor economic growth, stagnant wages, low productivity and rising taxes. The cost-of-living crisis is rumbling on, the upcoming Budget is unlikely to lighten the mood, and – the cherry on the cake – the polls seem to favour Reform as the next government in waiting.
I sometimes ask myself what kind of country (or indeed world) my children will grow up in. Leaving aside the social and political upheaval, there are more than enough financial storm clouds on the horizon to worry the average punter.
It turns out that 38% of Brits spend more time worrying about financial admin than actually doing it
However, an interesting piece of research emerged from my aforementioned email pile (and kudos to Dan Cooper for drawing it to my attention). According to Canaccord Wealth, we could all be thousands of pounds better off if we spent just an hour getting our finances in order.
It turns out that 38% of Brits spend more time worrying about financial admin than actually doing it, with 31% avoiding financial tasks because they assume they are too complex.
This felt especially relevant given I’ve just had a month free from work pressures – a blessed relief given that the weeks leading up to my paternity leave were an insane blizzard of writing, recruiting, onboarding, strategising and forward planning.
I don’t want to complain unduly. My job is inherently busy, and I daresay there were pockets of time – even amid the hecticness – where I could have bent my mind to personal finances. But given the circumstances, you’d forgive me for choosing a glass of wine over spreadsheets at the end of a stressful day.
Even with unsettled nights, we still had plenty of space to address that growing list of life-admin tasks
However, with my job on hold for a month, I had no such excuse. Newborns sleep most of the time, and even with unsettled nights we still had plenty of space to address that growing list of life-admin tasks. And at the top of that list was our cashflow.
My wife and I had already identified the venue: a lovely, peaceful café called EPK Social near Elephant and Castle. A place with few distractions, particularly midweek. In fact, when we arrived, the only people present were an elderly couple playing chess.
With no other plans for the day, we sat down at a corner table with the pram next to us, ordered some coffee and opened our laptops. Then, over the course of four hours, we did the following:
- Undertook a complete audit of our direct debits, identifying where to save.
- Worked out how much we were spending per month outside of direct debits, and on what.
- Established key areas of expenditure (food/drink, mortgage, bills, household costs, childcare, nursery fees, holidays, luxuries, etc) and areas of responsibility (who pays for what).
- Set up a joint account and allocated a monthly budget to it.
- Identified investment vehicles for our two children and ringfenced monthly contributions.
- Reviewed our own savings, investments, etc and discussed how to direct more money towards them from savings made elsewhere.
- Updated our wills, taking into account our new circumstances.
By the end, it was like we’d cleared a pathway though a dense jungle. I’d been dreading the task in the days beforehand, but ultimately it was just a question of getting started.
Overall, the relief was immense. Canaccord’s research suggests that 52% of people who tackle their financial to-do lists say tasks were easier than expected, and this certainly chimes with our experience.
Financial decisions require mental space, and that’s in short supply in a world where we’re all working longer and harder for less
But would we have got it done at all without that time off? Unlikely, I’d say. It’s been something we’ve wanted to do for months, and I’d imagine it’ll be at least another year before we get anything like the equivalent space. In the meantime, we have many other priorities.
And we aren’t alone. According to Canaccord, 32% of people worry every day they haven’t sorted their finances, but when asked what they’d do with an extra hour a day just 8% say financial planning. This compares with 33% who would spend time with family, 24% who’d choose hobbies or exercise, and 22% who’d opt to take a nap.
I don’t blame them at all. Financial decisions require mental space, and that’s in short supply in a world where we’re all working longer and harder for less.
We all deserve some pleasure in life, and procrastination isn’t necessarily a sign of laziness. Indeed, as behavioural insight specialist Mana Jhaveri says, “it’s often a symptom of being overwhelmed”.
However, if you can find the time, it’s worth its weight in gold. Our day at EPK Social is just one example of the many practical sessions we had during my parental leave, and I’m sure we’ll be feeling the benefits for years to come.
