At the core, Financial Planning is about you engaging with your money. The process of planning can be as much about having matters clear in your mind, as it is about having things clear on paper.
Let’s start with what Financial Planning is not – it isn’t about buying products like pensions, IRAs and bonds. Products may be the pieces in the jigsaw, but as important as they can be, they are not the whole picture.
Financial Planning is a process to help you make sensible decisions about money, and it starts with helping you articulate the things that are important to you.
For you, Financial Planning might involve putting appropriate wills in place, thinking about how your family would manage without your income should you fall ill or die prematurely, managing your expenditure, providing for your own future or passing on wealth to your family. Financial Planning brings all of these elements together in one coherent, ongoing strategy.
You can build a plan on your own, but where your needs are more complex or where you work better with others as part of a team, you should consider advice from a Financial Planner. At this time, Financial Planning ends with delivery of the plan.
