My Financial Wellness Plan: From Surviving to Building Wealth

You want to feel less anxious about money, but the whole picture feels overwhelming. Budgets, debt, savings, insurance, retirement: where do you even start? The answer is one step at a time, in the right order for where you are right now.

What is happening

Financial wellness means being able to meet your needs today, handle a surprise without panic, and make progress towards your future. It is as much about how you feel as what you have. Two people with the same salary can feel very differently, depending on debt, family responsibilities and habits.

It helps to see financial wellness as a ladder with five stages:

1. Surviving: money runs out before month-end, you borrow to cover basics, and there is no buffer. Focus: stop the bleeding, a simple budget and help with debt.
2. Stabilising: you cover essentials and are catching up on arrears. Focus: stay current on every account and build a first R1 000 buffer.
3. Secure: no arrears, one to three months of emergency savings, and the right insurance. Focus: grow your emergency fund and check your cover and will.
4. Building: you are saving for retirement, paying off debt faster and starting to invest. Focus: increase contributions and invest regularly.
5. Thriving: you have choices. Focus: long-term wealth, estate planning and helping others in a sustainable way.

You can move up and down the ladder when life changes, through retrenchment, illness, divorce or a new baby. That is normal. What matters is knowing your stage and your next step. Working on your stress at the same time makes each step easier.

Signs to notice

• You feel overwhelmed and do not know where to start.
• You are working on many money goals at once and none are moving.
• A life change has knocked you back a stage.
• You want to move from saving to investing.
• You feel stuck at the same level for years.

30-second self-check

Answer yes or no.

• Do you get through the month without borrowing for essentials?
• Are all your accounts up to date?
• Do you have at least one month of expenses saved?
• Do you have life, disability or funeral cover that fits your needs?
• Are you saving for retirement every month?
• Do you have a valid will?
• Do you invest outside of retirement savings?

0-1 yes: You are in the surviving or stabilising stage. Focus on your budget, getting current on debt and a first small buffer.
2-3 yes: You are moving towards secure. Build your emergency fund and check your cover and will.
4 or more yes: You are building or thriving. Keep growing your investments and look at estate planning.

What you can do next

• Today: Complete the Financial Wellness Score to find your stage.
• This week: Choose one goal for your stage only. Write it down with a date.
• This month: Review progress, celebrate what worked and set your next goal. Book a session with a money coach if you feel stuck.
• Look after the mind side too: money progress is easier when you are sleeping and coping well.

Your tool

Financial Wellness Score - a short check across budgeting, debt, savings, protection and future planning that shows your stage on the ladder and your next three steps.

When to get professional help

Get help if you are stuck in the surviving stage, if debt is growing, or if money stress is affecting your health or relationships. A money coach can guide the plan and a counsellor can support you with the stress.
Who can help: Money coach, FSCA-authorised financial planner, NCR-registered debt counsellor, counsellor

Getting help in South Africa

Your Cleared Mind EAP can connect you with a money coach and offers confidential counselling. The National Credit Regulator (ncr.org.za) lists registered debt counsellors. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (fsca.co.za) lets you check that a financial adviser is authorised.