Use this financial advice process to create a foolproof investment plan
All the successful people in life have one thing in common. And it’s probably not what you think.
It’s not money, it’s not massive mansions on the hill, it’s not fast cars, and it’s not overseas holidays every year to exotic faraway lands – although many of them do enjoy life’s little luxuries.
It’s a plan.
They have a plan in place to build their wealth.
Starting out by setting some goals around what they want (i.e. the massive mansion on the hill), they put a plan in place on how they’re going to achieve their goal.
As a financial planner, I’ve helped many clients plan for their financial future. How do I do this so well? I have my plan of course! It’s a foolproof action plan to help my clients.
Here’s how it works.
What to expect from the 6-step financial planning process
1. Our first meeting
Trusting your financial advisor is a big deal. You need to have faith that they know the investment market back to front, and that they have your best interests at heart. That’s why our first meeting is at my cost. We’ll let you know what information to bring along for us to see your current position. You’ll be able to ask us questions, and we’ll do the same. You’ll also leave knowing exactly what you’re up for regarding investment options and costs. From here, you decide if you’d like to continue working with our team.
2. Looking where you are today
As mentioned, we’ll go through your current financial position at our first meeting. Together, we’ll look at your: assets (what they are and how they’re structured); debt and how you’re repaying it; and any savings you may have. We’ll also ask you what’s important to you – do you want to spend more time on holidays with your family, do you want to have a comfortable retirement? These will be the goals we set before we start planning to achieve them.
3. Personalising your financial plan
Once you’ve given us the green light, sit back and let us get to work for you. We will go through your paperwork and look at your debt (home loans, car loans, personal loans etc.), your superannuation fund or pension account, your cash flow and your saving patterns (if any). Taking your goals into account, we’ll start to make a personalised plan to help you meet your goals. We’ll also see how achievable your goals are, and if needed, we’ll give you Plan B options (i.e. instead of the mansion on the hill, you may be happier with a comfortable home in the burbs or a cottage by the sea).
4. The grand plan is revealed
Usually around 2 weeks after our first meeting, we’ll ask you to come back to our office for the unveiling of your financial plan. We’ll show you the plan and take you through it step by step, explaining our thinking and showing you how the plan works towards your goals. We know you’d be excited, as well as a little nervous, so we encourage you to ask as many questions as you need. We’ll also show you how we ‘stress test’ the strategies in the plan to help you on your path to a secure financial future.
5. Pushing the ‘go’ button
At our second meeting, if you agree with the plan we’ve created, we’ll have the paperwork ready to get your signature. Once you’ve squiggled away, you can relax knowing we’ll do the rest. We’ll put all the processes in place to get your investments underway, your loans altered, your savings upgraded etc. This stage can take 2-6 weeks depending on how complex your situation is, and we’ll keep you informed along the way.
6. To the future and beyond
Please rest assured that we are not a ‘love you and leave you’ firm. We take the success of your investments and financial security very seriously. Offering a review service, we ask you to come in whether it’s every 6 months, yearly or every second year. During these meetings, we see how you’re travelling and make sure you’re personally on track. Life can throw us curve balls at times, so it’s important that you get in touch with us to help you out.
Creating your financial plan is quite easy
As you can see, we’ll do most of the work for you. The hardest part most of our clients find is scrounging together all their paperwork for the initial consultation! This is the only part that we ask you to help us with. It’s then down to us to work out what will work for you.
Start investing today to build your wealth and financial security
It’s never too late to start planning for your future. The key is to begin somewhere and build it over time as your circumstances allow (i.e. your mortgage reduces, the car is paid off, kids have left home etc.). The team at EK Financial would be more than happy to help you make an informed decision about investing your money.
Email me at: aaron@ekfinancialgroup.com.au
Or call us on 03 9020 1888.
