Financial Planning

Financial Goals

What are your short-term, medium-term, and long-term financial goals? Financial planning is all about coming up with a strategy of how you are going to meet these goals. Therefore, the first step of the financial planning process should be to make your financial goals clear.

Net Worth Statements

Your financial plan requires a baseline. Therefore, you need to create a list of all your assets and liabilities. The difference between your assets and liabilities is your net worth. If you are just starting, you shouldn't worry if your net worth is negative. Negative net worth is quite common, particularly among young people with student loans and mortgages.

Budget and Cash Flow Planning

When it comes to financial planning, this is where the rubber meets the road. You need a budget to plan how you will be spending your money. Your budget should also consider emergencies, taxes, insurance, and debts. Through your budget, you can decide where you are going to cut back in order to meet your goals.

Retirement Planning

No matter how strong and energetic you feel, there will come a time when you will retire. Although your children will probably be financially independent, and you will unlikely have a mortgage to pay, you will still need money to meet your retirement goals. Your financial plan should make your retirement goals clear and set you on course towards reaching those goals.

Do I Need a Financial Planner?

A: Financial planning is not easy, and learning to do it yourself can be tough and time-consuming. Therefore, unless you have adequate skills to handle your finances diligently, you may need a financial planner to help you come up with a plan you can trust to help you implement your financial goals.

What do financial planners do?

A financial planner helps people create financial plans to meet their financial goals. More specifically, financial planners help people with budgeting, retirement planning, and estate planning. Your financial planner can also advise you on how you can save money on your taxes.

What is the difference between a financial advisor and a financial planner?

Financial advisors are professionals who advise their clients on a broad range of financial issues, including financial planning, investment opportunities, life insurance, real estate, and much more. On the other hand, financial planners are financial advisors who focus on helping their clients develop financial plans to meet their financial goals.

Is a financial planner the same as an accountant?

No, accountants focus on recording, analyzing, and summarizing financial transactions to create comprehensive financial reports, while financial planners help their clients with managing their finances to meet specific financial goals.

Are financial planners worth the money?

Working with a financial planner may help you cut your expenses, save more money, and have a better plan for the future. It may also improve your emotional and financial well-being. Therefore, hiring a financial planner may be worth the money.