Lifestyle Financial Planning, what is it, and what does it mean?
Now that you are here, we are hopeful you have either been referred to us or you have searched online for a local professional, if this is you, you are likely to be more familiar with the term “Financial Adviser” rather than “Financial Planner”.
So let us try and explain the difference between the two.
Financial Planning, Not Just Advice For Today!
In short, an Adviser will recommend, and sell a product that fits your risk profile at a precise time, and discuss the returns you may get based on historical data.
Typically, this is how advice was provided in the commission days of Financial advice pre-2013, where Advisers could have hundreds and hundreds of clients, without the obligation of providing an ongoing service to them, this was because they were paid by providers and received ongoing commissions, where a lot of clients simply believed advice was free.
The main issue with this, was that it was a transactional service, and it didn’t take account of client’s circumstances changing over time.
The Birth Of The Retail Distribution Review
Thankfully, since then the Financial Services Authority (FSA, now the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA]) created the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) as a set of rules and regulations designed to fundamentally change the way in which financial advice operated in the UK.
RDR was put into place on December 31 2012, with the ultimate goal of ensuring there was more transparency in the investment industry; services were improved through higher qualifications; and ensuring investors understood the true cost of advice and trust they were receiving unbiased information.
From Colin J Locke to Sandford House Financial Planning
At Sandford House Financial Planning, whilst we have originated from Colin Locke’s old Practice, we weren’t qualified to provide advice before 2013, and have subsequently not been exposed to the commission and “product selling” environment that existed then, that is absolutely not to say that there weren’t some excellent advisers around in those days, Colin being one of them (he was my adviser), it simply means that our focus is on providing comprehensive ongoing financial planning support to our clients where it is needed.
Even if you think you only want to discuss your retirement planning, we will likely discuss other areas to ensure any plan we ultimately devise, is robust, sustainable and is designed to support any potential transfer of wealth to your loved ones.
We Aim to Meet Your Financial Needs
We will do our utmost to assist you in meeting your need for financial control, stability, and simplicity. A Lifestyle Financial Plan with Sandford House Financial Planning will help provide clarity and, we hope, peace of mind. It shows you where you are currently heading, and what you would need to change to achieve a different financial future; the desired lifestyle you envision for yourself.
A Lifestyle Financial Plan will help you to get a realistic view of your current financial situation, and expectations based on your current financial resources. It describes the what ifs, it takes into account important life changes – both those desired as well as the unforeseen ones, and helps you prepare for, adapt to and protect yourself against those unfortunate events.
What is Our Process to Meet Your Financial Future?
It All Starts with a Call
Arrange an initial free 45-minute consultation (Which can be booked through the website, directly into my calendar)
Let's Talk About You
If we agree to work with one another, we will arrange a further meeting to get a comprehensive understanding of your personal needs and aspirations, we want to get to know you and of course you us, as best we possibly can.
Financial Questionnaire
We will then ask you to complete an online financial summary and risk profiling questionnaire, to get an idea of the types of funds and appetite for risk you have.
Complete Transparency
We will then provide you with complete transparency of our fees, typically a percentage of your holdings for our initial work and commensurate for the amount of work hours undertaken, as well as our ongoing annual fee, which is paid monthly from any investments we make on your behalf.
Presentation
Our final meeting will focus on us presenting our findings and the “tools” we would recommend to help support you, we will also undertake a cashflow modelling forecast to consider the likelihood of your choices being suitable for your needs over the long-term.
Checking in with You
Most importantly, we will meet or liaise with you at least annually, to ensure we are on track with the plan we have created for you, as well as keeping on top of any change of circumstance.
HOWEVER, we would like to make it clear that if you simply want to invest monies and not maintain a two-way mutual relationship then you are probably best investing yourself, or working with an Adviser.
“Having a well-thought-out financial plan, reviewed by a professional, on an annual basis, is far better than having no plan at all”
The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise, and you may not get back the original amount invested.
