A good financial plan can help you to avoid:

• Loss of control.  No matter how hard you work, how you manage your money now will make all the difference between a comfortable retirement and one where you are living a restricted lifestyle
• Unexpected events. Any number of future events are a threat to you and your family’s financial security, e.g. serious injury from an accident, unexpected illness, or an economic recession. Without a plan already in place, the financial consequences for you could be devastating
• Wasting money. If you don’t know where all your money is going, you can’t secure the lifestyle you want in retirement. A good financial plan allows you to find the right balance between funding your lifestyle now and funding the one you want in the future

Engaging a Financial Adviser

By putting yourself in the hands of an expert, you can spend more time building wealth and less time worrying about the complex details of investments, superannuation and other financial matters.

Good financial advisors will also take a genuine interest in your goals and aspirations. They can be an excellent sounding board to help you work out what you really want in life, both now and in the future.

DIY Planning

An alternative to using a financial adviser is to develop your own wealth plan. This typically involves “working backwards” through each life stage and providing a realistic financial scenario of income and outgoings. You will then need to develop detailed investment strategies to fund each stage and to also ensure you do it in a tax-efficient way.

However, taking the DIY path means potential blind spots including crucial details being overlooked in investments, contracts, wills, tax decisions and insurances.

By all means, be involved in creating your wealth and lifestyle plan in conjunction with your adviser, but your time will be better served working in your core business or job to generate cash.

Some Pitfalls to Avoid

• Choosing the first planner you talk to. Do your research. Chances are you have many planners to choose from and you need to find one that is the right fit for your personality and individual circumstances. Your planner or advisor is a partner on the journey, so it is about more than being good with numbers
• Not starting early enough. While it might never be too late to manage your everyday spending, the sooner you begin a financial plan the more likelihood you will reach your retirement lifestyle goals
• Misunderstanding current versus retirement lifestyle. Clarity on this question is the foundation on which your financial plan should be built. If you aim too low you will have to make unwanted changes to your lifestyle in retirement. Aim too high and the goal of a comfortable retirement might seem unreachable
• Not revisiting your plan regularly. Income levels go up and down, as do the financial markets. So it is important that your financial plan is checked regularly to ensure that you are taking these changes into account

Want more information on how your can increase your wealth, protect your assets and build a strong financial plan for the future?

Instantly download the FREE Lantern Advisory Ebook "Introduction to Financial Planning and Market Update" by clicking the image below. We provide you with information on what should be in your financial plan, how to set one up, the benefits, pitfalls to avoid and some market opportunities.

You are also welcome to contact Ian Walker or James Cavanough from Lantern Advisory on 07 3002 2690 for a free and confidential discussion regarding your personal situation.

Our promise to you - your contact details will remain confidential at all times. You will receive approximately one email per month with valuable information to improve your financial situation, however you can subscribe from this correspondence at any time.

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