Your Financial Planning Journey – How a Financial Advisor works with you
Many people may think financial planning is complex and simply choose to put it off. Others may be confused about where to start.
Financial planning put simply is charting and following a road map to get from where you are now to where you want to be 10, 20 or 30 years.
If we think of it a bit like taking a road trip with your family, it’s about getting to know where you are – your current financial position, what financial resources or assets do you currently have, what sort of liabilities to you have and how much? Is it enough to power your journey – how is your cashflow position? Are you saving enough? Have you borrowed too much or not enough and at what cost?
Next you want to be clear about the destination you are bringing your family to. This is where you set your goals – funding children’s education, owning property that will give you rental income or retiring comfortably with a funded pension. Writing down these goals, putting a timeline on them and the amount needed will all help towards achieving them.
A general road map can then be planned out, taking in to account the time and resources needed.
Next you have to determine the investment portfolio needed to achieve these goals. It has to match risk and return needs, as well as your loss aversion. Given the time you have you may not reach all your goals and you may need to adjust them or your finances, like cutting unnecessary expenses or eliminating high interest debt. Or you may need your investments to work a little harder for you.
As all road trips go there may be road bumps, obstacles, maybe even disasters that take you off your path. You will need to plan for these contingencies in the event that you lose your job or lose your income due to illness or injury or your premature death so that your family can still reach the destination that you planned out. Along the way you may need to slow down or speed up depending on circumstances.
When you reach your destination, you want to be in a position where your money is working for you instead of you working for your money.
For most of us achieving our financial goals will require commitment, sacrifice, patience and a long term plan. Your Financial Planner’s role on this journey is to help you stay on track – plot the course, continuously monitor your progress towards your goals, deal with changes needed along the way as your life changes and do what is within our control help you reach your destination.
To speak to our advisors about starting your financial planning journey please call us on 01 2375500 or email justask@harvestfinancial.ie.
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