When planning your future, it is important to look at ways to secure and take control of your finances. Building a plan allows you to prepare for anything unexpected and help you feel confident about your future.
There are many ways that you can look at doing this, but our financial planning team provides their top 5.
1.Take the appropriate level of risk
It is important to take the appropriate investment risk within financial planning and this is important when trying to build your financial future. Holding money in cash could mean that you are subject to ‘inflation risk’ i.e. the risk of your money not keeping pace with rising prices. A cashflow forecast can highlight how much growth you need to drive sustainability, allowing you to take the appropriate level of investment risk. A financial adviser would ensure that you diversify your portfolio appropriately to help you meet these growth objectives.
2.Have an emergency fund
Having an emergency fund is crucial to prepare you for any unexpected events / changes that may happen within your life. Once you initially use the fund it is important to regularly top it up in case something unexpected should happen again. Having this fund in place can provide peace of mind and improve your financial wellbeing.
3.Cash flow to test goals and objectives
A cashflow allows you to test your objectives and in turn create a financial plan with your financial adviser, to ensure that you have enough money to fund what you need. By modelling a cashflow forecast, we can make sure that you are on track to have sufficient funds in place to ensure that you can sustain your retirement. We can offer a sense of direction to ensure that you know what is required to reach your retirement goals and consider different scenarios in some ‘what if’ scenarios.
4.Protect yourself and your money
Like having an emergency fund, it is important that you take out protection for your money and yourself to prepare yourself for the unexpected. You can protect your income if you are unwell or have an accident, provide a lump sum in the event of serious illness or provide some capital or income for your loved ones in the event of death. Cashflow models can help to determine what levels of cover you need.
5.Build a retirement plan sooner rather than later
Although for many, retirement may seem a long time off, the younger you start building your pension pot the sooner you will be able to enjoy the retirement you have dreamed of! You can continually review your retirement plan with your adviser so that you can align it with your goals and objectives, and provide the reassurance that you are on the right track.
Get in touch
For further information or advice on how you can plan ahead to secure your financial future, contact a member of our financial planning team today to talk through your personal circumstances by emailing financialplanning@pmm.co.uk or call 01254 679131.
The information contained within this article is purely for information purposes and does not constitute financial advice.
