Is financial planning an annual event, or should it be adjusted as our life experiences broaden?
Finances seem to have a time and place. April, or Tax Season, holds a connotation of sudden collection, organization, and filing. Paying off your credit card is a quick check on finance flows and stability. Life events such as retirement require long-term planning often made with 401K plans with new jobs. Even midnight online shopping might necessitate a brief glance at your bank statement.
Keeping your finances strictly to these engagements does not set you up for success. But learning how to plan consistently does not need to be stressful.
What happens if we look at life planning as an evolution and one that moves with our own flow? Your ideas of financial planning may resemble an Excel file, or an app that doesn’t quite meet your needs, but seemingly does enough. This fails to acknowledge you as a unique individual with passions, desires, and goals. An expert guide is key to assisting you with the financial knowledge and mental equipment to visualize your finances as fuel to your flow, rather than potential impediment or stress.
Financial Planning
A financial plan is meant to be a tool to align your current standing, your ideal position, and the strategic steps in-between. As intimidating as this may be to approach, the critical step is evaluating the relevance of a previously-made financial plan now.
Your life is wide and expansive, and the elements of a financial plan are not just likely to change, it is a guarantee. Therefore, it is important to ensure that this tool, the financial plan, is up-to-date and applicable to your life today.
The basics of any financial plan are as follows:
- Current Situation
- Protection
- Wealth Accumulation/Investments
- Tax Planning
- Retirement/Financial Independence Planning
- Estate/Legacy Planning
However, you do not want to stop here. Build this skeleton out to include your specific goals, emotions, wants, and needs. This requires some contemplation on your part about how you want money as an energy to propel you forward.
Consider utilizing Amida’s 5 Pillars of Wealth to sketch out your ideal situation. Career, finance, personal growth, relationships, and health – your life is influenced, prioritized, and influenced by these components. Take the time to reflect on your inner goals and long-term vision through these 5 Pillars. This will help you to understand how ongoing planning affects all aspects of your life.
Advising
Creating a rough financial plan on your own may seem doable but as life happens, you might recognize the need for assistance. Financial advisors are guides along your journey, supporters of your success and growth.
The true value in an advisor is centered around exactly this notion: consistent planning and ongoing conversation. Proper wealth management can open worlds of opportunity and it is the advisor’s task to help you find the key already in your grasp. You are not expected to be an expert on financial management and wealth accumulation; that is our job! In addition, it is also our purpose to navigate how money’s energy interacts with all facets of your life.
Advisors are behavioral coaches, counselors for clients. Just as finances influence the other 4 Pillars of Wealth, advisors are concerned about the aggregate wellbeing of clients. Ongoing financial planning is meant to simplify and improve your daily state of mindfulness. It is not meant to add stress or complication, which are very common emotional obstacles for individuals striving for financial balance.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to financial planning, most people are unaware of what the process is composed of; it may seem daunting. Amida is set on redefining this notion – financial planning is an energizing moment of goal evaluation and action! Reach out today to connect with one of our advisors for guidance.
