Financial Planning

What is Financial Planning?
Financial planning is the process of identifying the goals you want to achieve in life and devising a plan for your finances to help you achieve them. Your aim might be to buy your own house, or to help pay for your children’s higher education. Whatever your goal, financial planning can help you reach it.

It might involve putting appropriate wills in place to protect your family, thinking about how your family will manage without your income should you fall ill or die prematurely, spending money differently, but it involves thinking about all of these things together i.e. your 'plan'. You can build a plan on your own, or if your needs are more complex you might want the help of a Financial Planner.

Create a sound financial plan in six steps

Establish your goals in life – short, medium and long term
Work out what assets and liabilities you have – write them down
Evaluate your current financial position – how close are you to achieving your goals?
Develop your plan – create a “route map” for achieving your different goals
Implement your plan – make the changes and make it happen
Monitor and review your plan at least yearly and make adjustments when needed

Start by working out your goals in life, in the short, medium and long term. Prioritise them, and think about the likely cost of those goals and when you will need the money, so you can start to plan your finances to work out how to achieve them. Don’t forget you also have to plan for some of the hurdles you may have to overcome too. It’s about getting organised; being in control of your finances rather than letting your finances control you.
By planning your finances to meet your goals you will:

Have a much greater confidence of where you are going in life
Reduce your stress levels and start to enjoy life more
Gain control and peace of mind through knowing whether you’re on track for the future you want for you and your family

How can a financial planner help you?

A financial planner can help with the management of your finances to ensure you are on the right track to meet your financial goals. They will assess your current financial situation and discuss the objectives you want to reach and the time frame that can be achieved. By evaluating your situation, your financial planner will be able to develop and implement a plan to help you reach your goals. They will also review your plan as it develops to change and update it as necessary.

 

THE GUIDANCE AND/OR ADVICE CONTAINED WITHIN THE WEBSITE IS SUBJECT TO EU REGULATORY REGIME AND IS THEREFORE PRIMARILY TARGETED AT CUSTOMERS IN THE EU.

PLEASE THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING LOANS AND OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT. SECURITY MAYBE REQUIRED.
ALL LOANS ARE SUBJECT TO AN ASSESSMENT AND CREDIT APPROVAL.
ALL RATES VARY SUBJECT TO LOAN AMOUNT, LOAN TYPE AND STATUS.
REPAYING YOUR DEBT OVER A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME MAY INCREASE THE AMOUNT YOU PAY.
WARNING – LATE OR MISSED PAYMENTS CAN CAUSE YOU SERIOUS MONEY PROBLEMS AND COULD SERIOUSLY AFFECT YOUR CREDIT RATING. FOR HELP GO TO MONEYADVICESERVICE.ORG.UK