Financial New Year’s Resolutions

It’s fair to say that for many the pandemic has impacted on our daily lives in a variety of ways and for many, one lasting impact has been our view of what is important in life and how to achieve both personal and financial goals.

As we start another year, we are already seeing many individuals looking to take steps in the right direction to have greater control over their financial future. Being on top of your personal financial situation is about an all-encompassing feeling of stability, enabling you to tackle whatever comes your way. No matter your situation we strongly believe everyone should feel prepared and in control, of their personal finances.

The ability to build financial confidence and resilience for whatever life may throw at us is, in our opinion, all down to having a financial plan. A financial plan that is flexible and adaptable to your life over the years. If you don’t already have one, having a financial plan should be your No1 Financial New Year’s Resolution.

So, if you’re starting the year as you mean to go on with setting yourself some financial resolutions, we can help you keep to them. Here are our top 5 things to consider:

Have a financial plan focussed on achieving your goals – where you’re heading, what you want to achieve along the way and your long-term goals can of course change. But you’ve got to start somewhere! By knowing your objectives and having a financial plan, you can understand how much money you need to achieve them. Without a plan, you may be unable to invest your money in a way which suits you and with a level of risk that you need to take/are comfortable taking. A wealth manager can ensure that your plan is based on sound decisions and geared up to get you to where you want to be.

Seek advice to prevent emotionally-driven investment decisions – volatility in the markets is nothing new but that doesn’t make it any easier to handle. There’s a lot of evidence to show that human beings make emotionally fuelled decisions when markets crash and that this can be detrimental to long-term portfolio performance. Your wealth manager should be able to provide you with the emotional support to endure the ups and downs so that you don’t make panicked decisions which could cause your money and future to suffer.

Get control of your daily finances – having money invested for your future is all good and well. But what about the here and now? Do you know how much money you spend day to day and are you able to access funds should something change? There’s comfort in knowing you’re secure not only in retirement but in your everyday life. This in itself will help your mental wellbeing and enable you to focus on making life count! If your current set up only focusses on the future, you might want to give some thought to the present.

Know what financial options you have – do you know what your options are? What different portfolios are available? How you can make your money work harder for you or how to set everything up tax efficiently? It’s a lot to take in – and it’s the job of your wealth manager to know the answers to these questions for you. They should always be aiming to put you in the strongest position by ensuring you understand the impact different options have on both your short and long-term picture. There may be no easy answers and trade-offs are often required. After all, life is about compromise!

Think about what you want to leave behind – having peace of mind about your own finances is one thing, but looking after your loved ones is also hugely important. So, it’s entirely natural that you’ll want to know that they will be ok, if anything happened to you. Leaving them financially secure and with the guidance of someone who knows your financial situation and intentions, can provide stability during a tough time. Working with an adviser who not only builds a relationship with you, but also your loved ones will help ease your mind about the future.

The bottom line

Falling short in one of these areas can create stress, and achieving all of this on your own can be hard – it’s not always easy to be objective when it comes to some of the most important people or decisions in your life.

Live the life you want, knowing your financial position is robust and make 2022 the year you that you not only achieve your financial new year’s resolutions but you make them habitual to provide you with confidence in your financial future.

We’d love to help you, get in touch with your usual contact or book a free, no obligation chat by clicking here.