What is the Value of Financial Advice?
It has never been easier to manage your own money. Online platforms and a wealth of information at the touch of a button make investments accessible for everyone.
But investments alone do not make a financial plan. A clear strategy is needed to navigate the options and help make those important decisions. Only when you can link your financial decisions to your values and important goals will the path become clear.
You might need some help getting started and keeping you on track. A good financial adviser will look at your situation holistically and ensure that your goals and objectives are at the centre of any recommendations.
Clear Goals
The first step is to understand exactly what you would like to achieve, for example:
Most people have an idea of their desired lifestyle, but this is often vague and doesn’t correspond to the actions taken.
A tangible goal includes target dates and amounts. It is ideal to write it down. You can change your goals as often as you like and add more as you progress. The important thing is to have something real to aim for. Otherwise, how will you know if things are going to plan?

Addressing Risks
Once you have your goals laid out, you may be ready to start working towards them. But slow down, as it’s also important to think about everything that could unravel your plan before you really start. No one likes to think about the worst happening, but taking the time to address potential disasters now can save a great deal of hardship and stress later on.
A financial adviser can help you quantify the risks and implement a strategy for dealing with them, for example:
It’s worth dealing with these risks early on in the planning process, as this frees up time and resources later to deal with the more exciting aspects.
It’s worth dealing with these risks early on in the planning process, as this frees up time and resources later to deal with the more exciting aspects.
Realistic Assumptions
Now that your goals are clear and risks are mitigated as far as possible, it’s time to start planning.
We cannot predict the future, but we can make some educated guesses to create your cashflow plan. This involves plugging in a series of numbers, some of which are known, for example:
Other numbers are not yet known, so we need to make assumptions, for example:
It’s best to make conservative assumptions, so if you think you will live until age 85, you should extend your cashflow plan to age 100. If you think you will achieve investment returns of 7%, assume 5%. This means that you are more likely to achieve and even exceed your goals.
A Sensible Investment Plan
While assumptions are useful for planning purposes, your investments are unlikely to achieve the same return every year. Sometimes, they might even lose money.
But investing to achieve your goals can make your decisions much easier. Rather than chasing high returns and following stock tips, you can follow a tried and tested long-term strategy.
A financial adviser can help you create an investment plan which:
This helps to filter out the noise and combat investor biases, to give you the best chance of investing successfully.
Making the Most of Tax Allowances
The main purpose of financial planning is not to save tax. However, there are number of tax allowances and exemptions that can save you money and help to progress your financial plan.
For example:
A financial adviser will help you to make the most of these advantages in the context of your wider plan.
Value for Money
As well as selecting the most suitable investments and tax wrappers, a financial adviser will also consider the companies you hold your money with.
If you have existing investments, this will involve a thorough review of the features, fund choice and charges.
Sometimes you can save money, simplify your situation, or improve flexibility by moving some of your investments, or consolidating them on one platform.
An adviser will look at all of the options and recommend the most suitable provider for your investments.

A Strategy for Income
Eventually, you will want to take money out of your investments, whether this is to fund your retirement or achieve one of your other goals.
It is arguably more important than ever to take financial advice at this point in your life.
The benefits of this are:
Leaving a Legacy
Once your own goals are fully funded, you may want to think about what you would like to leave behind for your loved ones.
This must be carefully balanced with maintaining your own lifestyle (including any care costs if required) and avoiding unnecessary tax.
A financial adviser will consider:
A strong estate plan ensures that more of your money goes to your intended recipients in line with your wishes.
Staying On Track
As time goes on, things change. Your circumstances will evolve and reality will diverge from the assumptions originally made.
This is why regular reviews are so important. A financial plan is not a single product that you can use as a roadmap for the rest of your life. It is a living entity that needs regular attention, otherwise in five or ten years’ time, it will no longer be relevant.
An ongoing relationship with a financial adviser offers the following benefits:
Even confident investors with a good understanding of tax can benefit from financial advice, as this can add structure, discipline, and objectivity to your strategy. This means you can focus on the things that are more important to you.
Please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the team to find out more about financial planning.
Speak to a member of our team on 020 7388 7000
Please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the team to find out more about financial planning.