What is Financial Planning?
Financial Planning is a process of developing strategies to help people manage their financial affairs to meet life goals, such as buying a home, saving for a child’s education, or planning for retirement.
Having a solid plan in place provides direction and meaning to your financial decisions. By viewing each financial decision as part of a whole, you can consider its short and long-term effects on your life. You can also adapt more easily to life changes and feel more secure that your objectives are on track.
Where do we come in?
The financial planning process consists of six steps that help us take a holistic approach to assessing where you are financially. Using these steps, we can work out where you are now, what you may need in the future, and what you must do to reach your goals.
The process involves gathering relevant financial information, setting objectives, examining your current financial status and coming up with a strategy or plan for how you can meet your objectives given your current situation and future plans.
Step one
Initially we will with meet you – at our expense – and explore your concerns, goals and objectives. We will mutually decide if working together is right for both of us.
Often our work is not just about setting financial goals, but looking at what the most important things in your life are. What would you like to achieve? When? With whom?
Step two
The next step is the main information-gathering stage. We will find out where you are now by building a full picture of your financial position. Many clients enjoy this part of the process and find it very enlightening!
Step three
Then, it’s over to us. We will then collate this information and go away to analyse and research what the best options may be for you.
Step four
Once we have a suggested plan in place, we will get together and work through our recommendations. We will make sure that you fully understand each element of the plan, why it’s in there, and its impact.
Questions we may focus on at this stage include: What is the priority? Could you run out of money? Are you paying too much in charges? Is your family safe if the worst should happen?
Step five
Once we have agreed on the plan together, it’s our job to put things in place and manage the process through. You can relax in the knowledge that your plan is in safe hands.
Step six
We don’t just put the plan in place and never look at it again. It’s important to understand that life has a habit of changing.
Our regular communication and reviews with you are vital to ensure that things stay on track, and that everything continues to work for you.
This process enables us to provide you with a robust, clear, and comprehensive Financial Plan which will map out the journey and signpost the milestones.
Investment Philosophy
What’s missing from cold hard facts is wisdom, hard won through experience and deep technical ability. That’s the magic ingredient. And that’s what we do.
How We Get Paid
We are completely independent of any fund manager, investment company, or any other service we could advise you to buy, sell or hold. This means that the only payment we receive is a fee from you.