Why it’s important to tell your planner before you make financial decisions
06/12/2023It's important to speak to us first before you make any financial decisions. Find out why, and how we can help you make informed decisions with your wealth
As you progress throughout your working life, you’ll no doubt be presented with plenty of financial decisions to make.
From what to do with a pay increase to how to best manage your pension once you reach the age when you can access it, there are all sorts of choices you could face.
When you work with us at Douglas White Financial Planning (DWFP), we’ll have designed a bespoke financial plan for you to help you manage your wealth.
So, when these choices arise, it’s crucial that they fit in with your financial plan. Otherwise, you might inadvertently disrupt your progress towards your targets.
This is why it’s important to speak to us first before you make any significant financial decisions. Yet, research shows that the majority of people do not speak to a professional before they make such choices.
Indeed, 92% of financial advisers and wealth managers say that their clients make financial decisions without first speaking to them, figures from FTAdviser show.
This is despite data from IFA Magazine demonstrating that one-third of Brits feel they’ve made poor financial decisions over the last two years.
When you work with us at DWFP, we want to know about the financial decisions you plan on making. We can offer personalised insight before you make certain choices, and help you ensure that they fit within your financial plan. That way, you don’t have to worry about making choices you may come to regret.
Read on to find out more.
Offering a sounding board for your choices
One of the key benefits of working with a financial planner is that we can be a sounding board for your choices, offering advice and suggestions to help you come to a conclusion that works for you.
The problem with not doing this is that you could miss out on a key recommendation that might have been more effective for you.
Think of us as the sounding board before you make a decision. Come to us to double-check the choice you’re considering, and ensure that you’re doing it in the most optimal way for you.
Whatever you ultimately choose to do, it’s crucial that you’re making informed decisions. We might make recommendations and suggestions, or we may give you the green light and agree that what you’re planning to do is sensible and appropriate.
Either way, finding out afterwards that you could have achieved the same or a better outcome with a more cost-effective or tax-efficient alternative can be disheartening. So, make sure you have all the facts first by keeping us in the loop.
Making sure your choices are in line with your wider financial plan
Another key reason to speak to us first is to ensure that your decisions fit with your wider financial plan.
The personalised plan we build for you at DWFP is designed to help you live the type of lifestyle you want. Everything is carefully balanced to ensure that your wealth is organised to support you and your family in reaching your goals.
You can also make changes and adapt the plan so that it fits your changing circumstances throughout your lifetime.
However, when you make financial decisions without considering this plan, you put your wealth at risk of not being able to provide you with the lifestyle you really want.
For example, imagine that you decide to go on an impromptu weekend city break to Europe. To fund this trip, you’re going to liquidate some of your investments.
The downside to this decision is that those investments might be a key part of your retirement income strategy. As a result, accessing them early could affect the lifestyle you’re able to live later down the line.
Meanwhile, as you may well know, we often suggest you hold a separate pot of cash for exactly this kind of purpose that we refer to as the “stuff it” fund.
The purpose of the “stuff it” fund is to offer you a source of cash that you can dip into guilt-free to then use on whatever you’d like.
Read more: Why having cash reserves can help maintain your investment’s growth potential
So, rather than liquidating investments, we might remind you that the “stuff it” fund is there and available for you to use. That way, you can still go on that holiday and not worry about whether it was a sensible choice.
We’ve built you a sustainable, long-term plan that will allow you to achieve your goals, and we know it inside out. We can help you make choices that let you do what you want to do now, without compromising on your goals for the future.
You don’t need to ask for permission to spend your money
One of the potential misconceptions you may have about running your financial decisions past us first is that it sounds like you need permission to spend your own money.
In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The entire purpose of our financial planning approach is to help you organise your wealth so that you can live your desired lifestyle with confidence.
This is the exact reason we want to hear from you before you make any significant decisions. By working with us, you can have the reassurance that you can indeed spend your money on what you want, with the peace of mind that you’ll be financially secure and stable both now and in the future.
Get in touch
If you’d like to work with an experienced planner who can help you make financial decisions that mean you can achieve your goals, please do speak to us at DWFP.
Email info@douglaswhiteltd.com or call 0151 345 6828 to get in touch today.
Please note
This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
A pension is a long-term investment. The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Your pension income could also be affected by the interest rates at the time you take your benefits.
The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Our free quarterly newsletter keeps you up to date on the financial news which affects you.