We all lead busy lives and the stresses and strains of the day to day can often prevent us from doing the things we enjoy doing the most. Spending some time refocussing on where we are going and what is important to us can help to get us back on track. Time is always an issue and often money is too. Creating a financial plan can help you understand what changes you can make now to improve the present and indeed your future.

Financial planning can be a daunting prospect but like most things in life if you break down into bite size chunks, it relatively simple. Here are the typical steps our Referral team might take in helping you create your plan and indeed your financial future which is driven by you and your aims.

• Factfinding – Establishing your overall current financial position.
• Goal Setting – the purpose of the plan. These goals will of course evolve and change over time.
• Understanding your attitude to investment risk – traditionally an area overlooked but this stage is crucial to a client so that expectations of returns can be managed.
• Creating a plan – A report will be written by the financial planner following the factfinding stage. This report will put forward recommendations and it is these recommendations that will form the basis of your plan going forward.
• Implementation – Putting in place the agreed recommendation. This may involve buying a financial product or making an investment.
• Reviewing – Typically this will take place on an annual basis and will involve a face-to-face meeting between the client and financial planner. The purpose is to review your original financial plan and make changes where necessary.

Our Referral team can offer advice on a range of issues and a range of products  including Mortgage, life, sickness protection and director keyman policies, so if in doubt please feel free to ask!