Planning for your secure financial future can be complex and confusing. There’s so much to think about and focusing your mind on what’s most important to you can be difficult.

Everyone’s plan is different, and it should be tailored to your individual circumstances and financial goals.

Here are eight key questions you can ask yourself when planning for your financial future, to help you to focus your efforts and decision making towards what is right for you:

1. What does your perfect financial future really look like? – or what don’t you want to see in it? This isn’t a quick answer, it takes careful thought and consideration, but penning down some initial thoughts is a great place to begin with your financial plan.
   
   
2. When it comes to your finances, where do you feel comfortable, and where do you feel vulnerable? – start with the vulnerabilities and put measures in place to address these first, then take a look back at the areas you’re happy with, could any improvements be made here?
   
   
3. What’s the next big step for you? – what are you next hoping to achieve? For example, are you looking to purchase your first house? Have children with your partner? Retire?
   
   
4. Who or what do you need to protect? – identify those you need to protect if something were to happen to you or your income. Then think about how you could protect them effectively. Perhaps it could be through life insurance, bequests through your will or critical illness cover.
   
   
5. How much are you currently spending and saving? – when you have an idea of where you want to be, think about how you need to get there. Think about your current save to spend ratio, put a monthly budget in place to ensure you’re not overspending and you stay on track to meet your financial goals.   
   
   
6. What is your risk tolerance to risk? – do you have an appetite for risk? Does your financial plan reflect your attitude to risk?
   
   
7. What processes do you already have in place? – for example, are you saving towards a pension for retirement or paying for a life insurance police?
   
   
8. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what is your contingency plan? – things don’t always go the way we expect them to, it’s essential to have a back-up plan in place.

Obviously, the above list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a great place for you to begin when thinking about your financial future. It may be helpful to consult a financial advisor to sound-out the rationale behind your decisions and ensure you’ve considered all of the many possibilities.

For more information, or to confidentially talk about your financial future today, get in touch or call 0121 270 2954.  

Disclaimers:

• The value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you could get back less than you invested.
• As a mortgage is secured against your property, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up the mortgage repayments