Financial Planning Process

1. Engagement – An Open Introductory Chat

The first meeting is a no obligation consultation with a qualified financial planner to discuss how we may be able to help and the services we offer. An informal conversation with an open agenda where you can ask any questions you may have about our firm, our services or indeed general financial planning topics such as pensions, investments, mortgages, equity release, or protection. Throughout our interactions with you, we will take care to ensure your full understanding of any industry jargon or topics that arise.

2. Discovery – Delving Deep, Getting To Know You

Where a need is identified and we proceed to advice, we need to understand more about you. Before a plan can be constructed and recommendations made, we must ensure we have a full understanding of your current circumstances and future plans. Although people often have similar life goals and objectives, everyone is different, and it is not just circumstances that differ, preferences, opinions, priorities and knowledge and understanding of financial planning topics differ widely amongst clients.

3. Research and Analysis – Assessing Your Situation To Research And Recommend The Best Solutions

After discovering more about you, we can then begin the process of researching and analysing the market to find the best solutions to meet your needs. We will then put together a plan to ensure you are on track to meet your goals. Examples of our research and analysis include:

• We will search the market for the best policies available to meet any protection needs you may have, helping to ensure you and your family are financially protected in the event unforeseen circumstances arise.
• We will analyse any existing investments you hold using an evidential process to determine whether there is a case for change. As an independent organisation we are not tied to a single product or provider, rather we can select funds or investment management services from the whole of the market, or indeed construct a portfolio to meet your specific needs and preferences. We will not recommend any changes unless we can prove in black and white that we have found a better option for you.
• For retirement planning clients we will produce cash flow forecasts to help you understand what your retirement income might look like for your expected life span and what action you need to take to secure this. We can also stress test your plans to show you what might happen in a worst case scenario and help you understand the implications of such an outcome and what action could be taken to potentially remedy the situation. This will help us put in place a realistic plan for your retirement income and help manage your expectations for retirement.
• We will identify any estate planning needs you may have and put together a plan to mitigate your inheritance tax exposure.
• We will provide you advice on getting a new mortgage or look to reduce rates on your existing mortgages as well as get a further advance.
• We can help you put in place provisions for later life such as long term care, and help you release equity from your property without needing to pay any interest or capital till you die or move into care.

4. Presenting your Financial Plan – Our Advice To Make Your Goals A Reality

Once we have produced a financial plan, we will arrange a meeting to present this to you. We will ensure you understand what can be done to help you reach your financial objectives, and help you understand what expectations you should have moving forward. The use of hard facts about you and our understanding of your preferences, priorities and attitudes, allows us to put together a plan tailored to your needs giving you context to understand where you are headed and what are reasonable expectations for the future. After reviewing the plan you will have a deeper understanding of what can be achieved, the placing of context and setting of appropriate expectations around your circumstances and plans may well lead to fine-tuning or revisiting our recommendations, depending on your circumstances and priorities and how your view may change as your options and likely outcomes become more clear.

5. Implementing our Advice – Getting It All Done

If you decide to accept our recommendations we will handle all the necessary paperwork to implement your plan. This will include account openings, transfers, your client agreement and other paperwork. We will keep you updated on the progress and provide you with your client portal login to allow you to access live valuations.

6. Ongoing Servicing – Staying On Top Of Change

If you wish to receive ongoing servicing to help you stay on track to achieving your financial goals, we will arrange for regular reviews to give you peace of mind and ensure any changes to your plans or circumstances are accounted for in your ongoing financial plan. We will stay in touch, providing you with updates on important topics and answering any questions you may have as and when they arise, we encourage all of our clients to pick up the phone and call us whenever they have any questions or to let us know if their circumstances or plans change.