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Planning for your financial future

According to the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, 22m people say they don’t know enough to plan for their retirement.”

As the famously quoted Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This notion is particularly pertinent when it comes to planning your finances, as failure to do so could have a significant detrimental impact on your financially secure future.

As the last 18 months have proven, the future is highly unpredictable. There are, however, ways in which you can prepare yourself to the best of your ability, should the worst happen. Regardless of the size of an individual’s wealth, everyone has their own set of goals, desires and objectives that they dream of fulfilling at some stage in their life. But without solid financial planning, it’s unlikely that these objectives can be achieved

Financial planning provides direction and meaning to your financial decisions. It allows you to understand the impact of every decision you make on other areas of your finances. For example, buying a particular product might help pay your mortgage more quickly, but conversely it might delay your retirement or reduce the funds inherited by your children further down the line.  By viewing each financial decision as part of a wider strategy, you can consider the short, medium and longer-term effects on your overall goals. Forming an appropriate financial plan to meet these goals will provide you with control and peace of mind, knowing that you are on track for the future you envisage for yourself and your family.

In 2013, research found that those who receive impartial financial advice have nearly double the savings and investments compared with those who do not take advice. In addition, they are more financially protected, have higher valued pensions and feel more financially confident about their future. (The Value of Advice Ireland 2013, PIBA/Standard Life*)

Key considerations

Life insurance

If your loved ones’ livelihoods depend on your financial support, then life insurance – which provides income for when you are no longer there to do so – should be strongly considered. This is especially important for parents of young children, and those with partners who would struggle to sustain their standard of living without the deceased partner’s income. However, life insurance is not just there to replace the income of the person who dies – it can also pay for childcare or the costs of hiring someone to cover the day-to-day household tasks if a partner who stayed at home were no longer around.

There is no way of knowing exactly when we will pass away. It could be today, tomorrow or 50 years from now, but it will happen eventually. No amount of money could ever replace a person, but life insurance can help provide protection for the uncertainties in life, bringing you and your family peace of mind knowing that they will be taken care of when you are gone. Life insurance not only protects your heirs from the unknown, but also helps them through an already difficult time of loss without an added financial burden.

Investment planning

When considering financial planning for the future, it’s impossible to ignore the requirement for investment planning. Whilst bringing its own level of complexity, investment planning is vital when considering the savings and investments required to achieve your individual goals and aspirations. Should you hold the investments directly or through a particular wrapper? Can you tolerate the true level of risk within a planned or existing portfolio? Could you achieve the same return for less risk? When reviewing or creating an investment plan to achieve a true level of diversification, we work with our clients to provide the most appropriate investment solution aligned to their individual circumstances, appetite for risk and current/potential use of tax allowances.

Retirement planning

No future financial plan is complete without the consideration of retirement planning. Will you have enough money at retirement? How much is enough? What do you intend to do in your retirement? Retirement planning is about taking responsibility at the earliest opportunity to focus on the long-term future and ensure that you can meet your retirement income expectations, or, if you are already retired, consider whether you are using your capital in the most tax efficient and appropriate way.

Your options in planning for a financially secure future for you and your family do not stop there. There are a host of other key considerations, including estate planning and inheritance tax considerations, to name but a few. Whether you are looking to create a plan or gain reassurance that you’re on the right path, Integrity365’s trusted Independent Financial Advisers can assist. Call us today on 0117 450 1300 or visit our website for more information: www.integrity365.co.uk

Sources:

* https://www.bestadvice.ie/uploaded/the_value_of_advice0913.pdf

Integrity365 is a trading style of MRIB Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 454705).

 

Partners& takes no responsibility for the advice provided by Integrity365 which is separately regulated by the FCA.  However, we work with Integrity365 closely and have always found them great to work with.