Your annual review meetings with your Financial Planner are key milestones on your journey to a secure financial future.
Each review is an opportunity to check your progress against your financial objectives and to get a clear overview of your current position relative to your long-term aims and aspirations.
Review meetings also provide a chance for you to raise any concerns you may have. Financial planning is all about providing you with peace of mind. These meetings allow us to help you address any issues that may be troubling you and make any necessary changes to ensure you can look ahead with confidence.
Here are five key issues that we would address at your annual review meeting.
1. There may have been changes to your personal situation
A lot can happen within 12 months, and it’s understandable that there may have been events in your life you haven’t shared with us.
Often these will be happy family events, such as the arrival of a new child, a child’s marriage, or having the birth of grandchildren. Perhaps you’ve started a better-paid job or received a financial windfall that you want to take advantage of.
However, there may also have been less happy changes, such as the death of a family member, or a substantial and unplanned financial event that you have had to deal with.
All of these events may require changes to your plans that we would talk through with you.
2. Your personal goals may have changed
It’s unlikely that your financial plan will remain unchanged throughout your working life and into retirement.
Amendments may be driven by the sort of changes within your family mentioned above.
However, the catalyst for alterations to your plan may also be changes to your own personal objectives. For example, you may decide that you want to start your own business, begin a whole new career in a completely different line of work, or even retire well before you had originally planned.
Your annual review is the ideal time to discuss these ideas and changes. We can give you the benefit of our financial insight and experience, and help you make any necessary adjustments.
3. External events may necessitate amendments to your plans
Sometimes, circumstances that are entirely beyond your control can impact your plans.
These could include changes in legislation, such as new financial laws that could affect the amount of tax you are liable for or change important allowances you may want to take advantage of.
Then there are wider economic factors, such as a period of high inflation or a severe market downturn, which could affect your investment plans.
Your annual review gives us the opportunity to discuss how your plans may need to be adjusted in response to such events, and how you may need to change your own financial habits to mitigate the effect of any adverse circumstances.
4. You could be paying more tax than necessary
We are always keeping an eye on tax legislation and key financial announcements, such as the annual Budget statement, to see how our clients could be affected.
Of course, we will get in touch with you between reviews if we think there are changes you need to make urgently.
But in most circumstances, our annual meeting will be the ideal opportunity to discuss any necessary changes.
We will agree on a way forward to ensure you avoid paying more tax than necessary and are taking advantage of opportunities that may arise as a result of any changes.
5. Your estate plans may need updating
A key part of your financial planning relates to your legacy.
Ensuring your wealth passes to your chosen beneficiaries as tax efficiently as possible will be part of your initial plan, and certainly a focus of each annual review meeting you have with us.
Changes in your family and personal circumstances, such as birth, marriage, an international relocation, or a divorce will all affect your estate plans to a certain extent, and could be the trigger for you to make changes to your current arrangements.
Even if no changes are required, it’s an ideal opportunity to review your plans to confirm they are still fit for purpose and match your intentions.
We’ll use cashflow forecasting to help you plan your financial future
A common challenge in financial planning is that it’s difficult to predict what will happen in the coming years.
However, by using an effective cashflow forecasting system, we can help you see how your financial position is likely to develop in the coming years.
You can also assess the effect of various scenarios to see how robust your planning is, and whether you need to make any changes.
Read more: The 4 stages of your life where cashflow forecasting could be invaluable – bdhSterling
Preparing for your review
It’s important to remember that what happens in your review is primarily down to you. It’s an opportunity to raise any issues or concerns you may have.
Effective financial planning is all about peace of mind. So, if you do have concerns or issues about anything relating to your personal finances and planning for your future security, your annual review is the ideal time to raise them.
We can then address them and help you put your mind at rest.
Get in touch
If you would like to discuss your financial plans or any of the issues raised in this article, please get in touch with us.
Please note
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.
This article is for information only, it does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs.
Please do not solely rely on anything you have read in this article and ensure that you conduct your own research to ensure any actions you may take are suitable for your circumstances.
All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC and ATO legislation, which is subject to change.