Benefits of Financial Planning Page

I wish I’d known that… Why it’s important to have financial advice

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Many times our advisers hear ‘I wish I had known that’, and it reinforces the real difference having a financial adviser onboard can make to both building your financial plan and making sure you stay on track through your lifetime.

If you’d like to discuss your financial future, and how a financial adviser can support you, please get in touch with our expert team:

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Create personalised, tailored financial plans

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Ellis Bates Directors Ben and Alan discuss how Ellis Bates incorporate the principles of Consumer Duty into every aspect of our client responsibility to offer relevant and effective products and services.

Watch our latest video to find out:

How the Ellis Bates in-house Investment Team help you create your personalised, tailored financial plans
How Ellis Bates independently select the products and services individually tailored to your financial plans
How Ellis Bates tailor the right financial products and services throughout your lifetime and its ever-changing circumstances
How Ellis Bates scan the whole of marketplace to carefully select the right products and services for you to achieve your financial plans
How the Ellis Bates in-house investment team create a suite of products and services geared specifically to your financial plans

If you’d like to discuss your financial plans, please get in touch:

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Free Guide: Making the most of your money

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Wealth planning isn’t a one-time event. It involves comprehensively evaluating your current and future financial state regularly to formulate and evolve a plan to help meet your financial goals.

We have produced a free guide to making the most of your money to help you at every stage of your financial journey: Download here

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Your financial planning future all on one page

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Ellis Bates Directors Ben and Alan discuss how Ellis Bates incorporates the principles of Consumer Duty into every aspect of our responsibility to ensure clients are on track with their financial planning.

Watch our latest video to find out:

How Ellis Bates can show you your financial planning future all on one page
How you can get the interactive power of cash flow modelling behind your financial planning
How to uncover and mitigate shortfalls in planning your financial future
How Ellis Bates will keep you on track with your financial planning

If you’d like to discuss your financial future, please get in touch:

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Free guide: Successful Wealth Management

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Key traits for successful wealth-building

Developing an investment strategy tailored to your goals

 

Committing to a financial plan is crucial for building wealth and achieving long-term financial goals. When you have a plan, you are more likely to stay focused on your objectives and take the necessary steps to reach them.

If you’d like to find out more about how to build your wealth, download our free guide here.

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Planning For a Secure Future

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The journey to financial freedom begins with a roadmap.

To start you can outline your current financial situation and this will pave the way towards your desired destination – your financial goals. It’s time to ask yourself, what are these goals? Saving for retirement, building an investment portfolio or establishing an emergency fund? The more precise your goals, the more tailored your roadmap can be.

Charting your course: the power of goal-based planning

Once you’ve defined your objectives, the magic begins. Goal-based financial planning allows you to invest systematically and in a disciplined way. It keeps you focused on your destination, unswayed by the market’s short-term turbulence.

While everyone’s goals vary depending on their life stage, they can generally be bucketed into three categories: essential needs, lifestyle wants and legacy aspirations.

ACHIEVING FINANCIAL SUCCESS: A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

Navigating the terrain of financial success in these areas can be challenging. It demands a holistic understanding of everything from complex retirement plans and investment products to risk management strategies and tax laws.

Your financial roadmap should be your beacon of clarity. It should encapsulate every facet of your vision – your hopes, fears and goals, vividly depicting your financial future.

What are some of the questions to ask yourself?

  • Can I sleep soundly knowing my future is financially secure?
  • Do I have a clear direction for my journey
  • Will my current lifestyle be sustainable in retirement?
  • Am I financially equipped to live the life I want now and in the future
  • Have I planned adequately to ensure I don’t run out of money?
  • Do I fully understand my financial position?
  • What is my financial ‘magic number’ to secure my current and future lifestyle?

The cost of your future lifestyle: Understanding your number

Start by identifying your financial goals and the time frame to achieve them. Determine their current cost, factor in a reasonable inflation rate, and voila – you’ll know what they’ll likely cost when you aim to achieve them. This exercise helps you uncover ‘your number’ – the money you need to secure your future lifestyle without fear of running out of funds.

Your financial roadmap is your guide to making informed financial decisions, striking a balance between current responsibilities and future aspirations. It’s designed to help you sustainably achieve your lifestyle goals and objectives over time.

We have produced a comprehensive guide to help you build a more secure financial future. To download your free guide, fill in the form below:

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Enhancing People’s Lives

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Director of Financial Planning, Ben Clapham, discusses how he helped to enhance someone’s life by helping them with their retirement planning.

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Preparing for retirement

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Preparing for retirement

Here are the top four things you can do to prepare for retirement:

1. Prepare a budget

One of the most important things you can do is to create a realistic budget that will help you track your expenses and income. This will allow you to identify any areas where you can cut back and save more money for retirement. By tracking your spending and income, you can create a plan that helps you save for a comfortable retirement.

2. Consider pension decumulation options

As you approach retirement age, it’s essential to explore the various ways you can convert your pension savings into a retirement income. There are several options available, such as annuities, income drawdown and immediate vesting personal pensions. Seeking professional financial advice will help you understand your options better and make informed decisions about how to access your pension.

3. Review your asset allocation

As retirement approaches, it’s essential to reduce exposure to higher-risk assets such as equities. By reviewing your asset allocation, you can adjust your investments to make sure you have a well-diversified portfolio that is designed to provide steady income for your retirement years.

4. Review your retirement plan regularly

Regularly reviewing your progress is crucial to ensure you are ready for retirement and make the necessary adjustments if needed. Changes in your income, expenses or the financial climate may require you to adjust your plan. By following these four tips, you can set yourself on a path to financial security for your retirement years.

Seek professional financial advice

By planning ahead and taking the necessary steps, we can help you build a robust retirement plan. To tell us about your retirement planning goals and discover how we can help you, please book a chat. Alternatively, watch our video on “the benefits of financial advice when planning retirement“.

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The benefits of financial advice when planning for retirement

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Taking financial advice can help clear any confusion when planning for retirement. Financial Planner, Gary Davies, explains the overall benefits of financial advice when planning for retirement.

Read our latest article on “financial wellbeing“, which outlines how taking control of your finances and considering financial advice will enable you to meet your financial goals and improve your overall financial health.

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Financial Wellbeing

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More than 24.5 million people are financially disengaged.

Do you often review your finances? Or are you one of those people who just hope for the best? Although managing finances may not be the most exciting activity, keeping track of your financial wellbeing can make a significant difference to your life, both in the present and in the future. Taking control of your finances and considering financial advice will enable you to meet your financial goals and improve your overall financial health.

Worryingly more than 24.5 million people (46%) feel financially disengaged, according to new research[1]. The study also shows that one in 20 adults – the equivalent of 2.4 million people – were previously financially engaged before changing their behaviour[2].

Financial uncertainty

Key reasons for this change include feeling financially secure enough to be less diligent with managing their money (20%), or because other areas of their life have become busier (18%). However, almost a fifth (17%) couldn’t state a reason.

But previous periods of financial uncertainty, such as recessions, were stated as the key driver for people becoming financially engaged (27%), so the current cost of living crisis could mean people keep a closer eye on their money.

Retirement planning

Almost two-thirds of respondents (62%) said they regularly check their household budget and their spending, while 73% shop around for the best deal, or use discount codes and vouchers (64%). On average, pre-retirees (those aged 55+ who are still in work) are more financially engaged than the rest of the population (62% compared to the UK average of 54%).

But many are still inactive when it comes to their retirement planning, suggesting people might not know where to start. More than a third (34%) do not currently check their workplace pension while 28% do not currently review their personal pension.

Money habits

Separate research shows one in five people still reach midlife without having engaged with their retirement at all[1]. Taking small steps to improve your money habits can have a huge impact on your life. It can also help you feel more in control of your financial situation.

Against a landscape of rising costs and record levels of inflation, it can be easy to bury your head in the sand. However, as the research shows, periods of financial difficulty can be one of the leading reasons people take charge of their finances and seeking professional financial advice can help you to create a robust financial plan.

Preparing for retirement

While it’s positive that pre-retirees, in particular, are more financially engaged than the average person, it is concerning that they aren’t engaging in vital steps to prepare for retirement, such as checking their pension.

This is the first step of the decumulation phase; however, some people could be leaving themselves at risk of not knowing their full financial picture or how to actively manage their retirement finances when they get there. The decumulation phase is an important aspect of retirement planning that many people overlook.

Income streams

During this phase, we convert our assets into income streams that will fund our retirement. With advances in healthcare and an increase in life expectancy, it’s becoming more important than ever to plan for a longer retirement. Investment can play a crucial role during the decumulation phase.

It’s important to continue making our money work hard even after we retire, so that we can meet our financial needs and maintain our standard of living. A well-diversified investment portfolio that balances risk and return can help us achieve our retirement goals.

Retire ready

To enjoy the decumulation phase with greater confidence and peace of mind, it’s important to have a realistic projection of income flows and expenses. This means creating a budget that takes into account expected income from sources such as Social Security, pensions and investment income, as well as our estimated expenses for healthcare, housing and other living expenses.

Preparing for retirement can be a daunting task, but by following a few simple tips, you can make sure you’re on track to living out your golden years in comfort and security.

Are you planning for retirement?

By planning ahead and taking the necessary steps, we can ensure that we have a comfortable retirement. Read our tips on “preparing for retirement”.

Important Information: The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. The tax treatment is dependent on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in future. A pension is a long-term investment. The fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend on the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation.

 

Source data: [1] Research was carried out online by Opinium Research amongst 4,000 UK adults aged 18+ between 14″20 October 2022. 1,856 participants indicated that they were financially disengaged in the survey. 1856/4000=46%, which equates to 24,541,000 UK adults.

[2] 181 participants indicated that they were financially disengaged in the survey. 181/4000=5%, which equates to 2,390,000 UK adults.

[3] Opinium survey of 4,009 UK adults aged between 40 and 60 years old in the UK was conducted between 28 December–6 January 2021.

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