8 tips to achieve financial success in 2025

A new year brings a new opportunity to start fresh, set some new goals, and do the best you can with the resources you have available. Here are our top tips for financial success in 2025, and a roadmap to get you started.

Look back and review

Before looking ahead, it’s helpful to look back to ensure you’re setting goals from a place of understanding and confidence.

• 1. Reflect on 2024
  Reflect on what 2024 held for your finances. Were there ups and downs? Did you experience any significant changes to your financial situation, net worth, or earnings? It’s important to celebrate the wins, acknowledge your progress, and look for information that can inform where you’ll go next.
• 2. Plan, eliminate, optimise
  Look back through your transactions from 2024. You can either do this line by line, or using summaries pulled from e-banking or another budgeting tool you use. Look for things you could have planned for, eliminated, or optimised. For example, you might decide to plan better for larger expenses look to eliminate any non-essential spending , and optimise aspects of your finances to achieve a better outcome, like repaying your debt faster.
• 3. What went well vs what didn’t
  Creating two lists, one of things that went well, and one of things that didn’t, can help you shift into a growth mindset. Acknowledging the good and the bad stops you focusing overly on the negatives and primes you to make positive change.

Get grounded

This involves looking at where you are now. What is the current state of your finances?

• 4. Review your interest rates
  The current interest rate environment means it pays to check your rates regularly, across savings and debts. Could you be earning more money on your savings in a high interest savings account? Could your home loan use a health check? Even a reduction of half a percent can save you thousands in the long run.
• 5. Tick off any financial admin
  Wrap up any outstanding financial tasks from 2024. Do you need to activate a new card? Close an account? Move money from one place to another? Maybe even refinance? Ticking off financial admin can clear your mental load for the year ahead.
• 6. Consider your priorities and opportunities
  Where are you at in your life right now? Have your priorities changed over the last year? What’s important to you right now? Think about opportunities you can seize and risks you might want to mitigate. Asking these key questions helps you enter 2025 from a place of clarity, which can help inform better financial decisions for you and your family.

Look ahead

Now, it’s time to plan ahead. With clarity and understanding under our belt, as well as real data on your finances from 2024, we can move forward towards financial success in 2025.

• 7. Set some fresh goals and milestones
  What do you want to work towards this year? Perhaps you’re thinking about starting a family or making a big purchase. Maybe you’ll realise your goal of travelling with friends or family. Or maybe it's time for a sea change, treechange, or even career change. Set some goals and milestones to keep you engaged with your finances for the year ahead. When you have a strong ‘why’, you’re more likely to stick to your intentions.
• 8. Get the wheels in motion
  Got your goals sorted? Let’s get you moving toward them with practical steps to make things happen.
  • Book a free home loan health check to find savings hiding in your home loan. You could use those funds to renovate, take a holiday, or clear debt.
  • Get pre-qualified for that big move. If you’ve got a goal to buy a new home this year, you can use our free pre-qualification tool to take the first step.
  • Create a debt pay-off plan. Finally ready to get debt-free in 2025? Set a repayment plan to help reduce any debts. Check out these handy strategies for paying off debt while saving.
  • Maximise your super contributions. Super is an important piece of your life puzzle, so don’t neglect opportunities to maximise your balance. Check in with your progress and explore ways to increase your retirement contributions.
  • Consider an investment plan. If you’re ready to grow your wealth outside of your home and superannuation, it might be time to invest. Bendigo Bank’s Wealth Concierge offers a suite of support services to help you take the next step.

Wishing you health, happiness and financial success in 2025!