What Is A Financial Plan?
|
|
About The Video.
What is a financial plan?
A thought inspired by an Antoine de Saint-Exupery quote - Remember goals without plans are merely wishes. |
Wellness.
- Take responsibility: Your future is your responsibility, don't become a victim of circumstance. Whatever place you find yourself in strive to make good, positive choices that elevate you.
- Become aware: Good and bad, habits are part of your life. You must see clearly how your save/spend habits affect your financial well-being.
- Take comfort from all of your achievements: It's very easy to focus entirely on the negative aspects of your financial life. It is very important that you congratulate yourself for everything that you do right - no matter how small.
- Value your work and prioritise your career: No matter how bad your personal circumstances, they will get worse if you allow them to impact on your work and career.
- Embrace change: A fear of change influences most of us, but more often than not a positive change in tomorrows circumstances can only come from positive changes made today.
- Know yourself: We are all unique. There is no point in aspiring to what other people value. We must only strive for things that we value.
- Be happy: We all need to accept where we are at any given moment. Worrying achieves nothing. Take comfort in the fact that no matter how bad you think things are, you're not alone. There are many people willing and able to help. You only have to ask.
Plan your way to financial independence.
For older people this page represents a reminder of how we can help those just starting out in adult life. For younger people what follows is my attempt to help with one aspect of what I see as a 'three-pronged' future.
NOTE: On one very practical level planning for the future means dealing with your money in a way that maximises the benefits it provides for you and your loved ones. Spend it or save it, only you can choose. As you read please keep in mind that all of this is what I have discovered over a lifetime of financial turmoil in a volatile commercial world. So the voice in your head should be one of me pleading not preaching.
In the beginning.
One of the major issues in the sales and promotion of financial services is that the products mostly deal with things that seem a long way off in a theoretical future. A prime example of this is funding a pension v's saving to buy a home. Buying a property seems to be in the foreseeable future and urgent. Pensions seem a lifetime away and can wait. The problem is that the longer someone waits to start saving for retirement the harder it will be to actually accrue a 'pension pot' big enough to do its job. Recently this has led to a growing tendency for people to use the equity in their home to boost their retirement/long term care. This is not ideal. Together with the usual shortage of spare cash experienced in the early years of employment, it's not surprising that financial planning for the future is not only fragmented but nearly always comes second to holidays, cars and the occasional night out.
But there is a secret to it. JUST START -
THEN -
Save something for the future. Make a list of all the things that you will NEED money for in the future and put them in 'date order'. Start with whatever's next in your future and end with your death (sad but inevitable). Common needs are:
Emergency Funds / House Purchase / Children / Life Insurance / School Fees / University Fees / Paying for Weddings / Grandchildren / Retirement / Long Term Care / Funeral Expenses.
Don't worry about how much you have. Save something for something.
Don't worry how little you start with - MAKE THE COMMITMENT. Having started you should -
For older people this page represents a reminder of how we can help those just starting out in adult life. For younger people what follows is my attempt to help with one aspect of what I see as a 'three-pronged' future.
- Personal: the plans, ambitions, dreams, goals for your life?
- Professional: how are you going to fund your life?
- Spiritual: what rules are you going to apply to your life?
NOTE: On one very practical level planning for the future means dealing with your money in a way that maximises the benefits it provides for you and your loved ones. Spend it or save it, only you can choose. As you read please keep in mind that all of this is what I have discovered over a lifetime of financial turmoil in a volatile commercial world. So the voice in your head should be one of me pleading not preaching.
In the beginning.
One of the major issues in the sales and promotion of financial services is that the products mostly deal with things that seem a long way off in a theoretical future. A prime example of this is funding a pension v's saving to buy a home. Buying a property seems to be in the foreseeable future and urgent. Pensions seem a lifetime away and can wait. The problem is that the longer someone waits to start saving for retirement the harder it will be to actually accrue a 'pension pot' big enough to do its job. Recently this has led to a growing tendency for people to use the equity in their home to boost their retirement/long term care. This is not ideal. Together with the usual shortage of spare cash experienced in the early years of employment, it's not surprising that financial planning for the future is not only fragmented but nearly always comes second to holidays, cars and the occasional night out.
But there is a secret to it. JUST START -
- Get a folder/box file/shoebox for all of your important documents.
- Write a list in order of priority of all of your regular spending.
- Look for and stop any wastage or bad habits - is your daily take-away coffee the best use of £60 a month???
- Work out what 'surplus' you have left at the end of the month.
THEN -
Save something for the future. Make a list of all the things that you will NEED money for in the future and put them in 'date order'. Start with whatever's next in your future and end with your death (sad but inevitable). Common needs are:
Emergency Funds / House Purchase / Children / Life Insurance / School Fees / University Fees / Paying for Weddings / Grandchildren / Retirement / Long Term Care / Funeral Expenses.
Don't worry about how much you have. Save something for something.
Don't worry how little you start with - MAKE THE COMMITMENT. Having started you should -
- Keep a record of what you are saving for.
- Update your income and expenditure list at least once a year (remember bad habits. Look for and stop wastage).
- As your 'disposable' income grows consider allocating to each of your needs on a percentage basis.
- Get someone qualified to give you an informed opinion on your 'Financial Plan'.
- KEEP GOING.
What's Next?Behavioural Personal Finance: An interesting look at why people cannot be relied on to do the 'right' thing for their future.
|
How Can I Help?Follow up today with a Seize Control of Your Money Session:
I can help with your specific issues in a private 30 minute one-on-one session delivered live online via Zoom Video. £0.00. BOOK NOW. It's important to stress the difference between the principles involved in good financial planning that a Seize Control of Your Money session offers and the advice/sale of selected financial products, instruments or services of which we have no direct involvement.
|