Why Financial Planning Should be about More Than Just Retirement
The average individual only views financial planning through the lens of retirement. In reality, financial planning can help you meet a variety of monetary goals, not just your desire to live a comfortable life during retirement. Make no mistake, it is important to save for those years, but financial planning has the power to unlock more potential in your life as well.
Map Goals and Discover a Path to Success
Arguably you have more financial goals in your life than just retiring comfortably. Whether you are single and unattached or married with children, there are goals that a financial planner can help you map out and discover how to achieve those objectives. CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professionals adhere to education, examination, experience, and ethics requirements, meaning your financial affairs are always managed with your best interests first so that you can achieve any of the following: • Prepare to merge assets in a marriage or equitably divide them in the event of divorce • Deal with an unexpected inheritance following the death of a loved one • Plan for the birth of a child • Overcome financial crises presented by the death of a partner, serious illness, loss of employment, or natural disaster • Care for an aging and/or disabled parent • Funding the education of children
A financial planner can help you understand how every financial decision you make can affect the other areas of your finances and your overall ability to achieve some of the many objectives mentioned above. Financial planning includes both short-term goals (erasing debt or boosting savings) and long-term objectives (saving for college or retirement). Additionally, it requires looking beyond your day-to-day life to include the bigger picture.
Planning Over the Years
The most important aspect of working with a financial planner to realize goals is the ability to adjust the approach with age. When you first meet with a financial planner, the manner in which your planner helps you achieve those goals depends on your current age, income, expenses, current market conditions/opportunities, and goals. As you age, those factors will change and have an impact on your ability to meet those goals.
A financial planner can help you reach both short-term and long-term milestones by adjusting the approach you use throughout your life. As your income increases and your time-to-objective shrinks, for example, a financial planner can help you adjust your outlook and keep you on the path to success.
Looking Beyond Retirement Investing Alone
Your financial planner can help you look at investment opportunities in the market that go beyond simply saving for retirement 20, 30, or 40 years down the road. There are mutual funds, annuities, and other stock options that can help you meet some of your near-term goals as well. The most important aspect of all of this is the idea that adequate financial planning for life's other goals can actually benefit your retirement.
When your work with a financial planner to successfully meet life's other financial challenges and goals, you will be better prepared to enter retirement with accumulated wealth that has been protected from life's unknowns. When you prepare for events such as the birth of a child, purchase of a home, and college savings responsibly, you are also protecting your ability to fund your retirement along the way. Visit http://www.famcorporation.com/, for more information!