6 Reasons You Need a Customized Financial Plan
Everyone has financial goals, but many people don’t have a roadmap that lays out how to achieve them. A financial plan that’s customized to your objectives becomes that roadmap—helping you reach your destination, whatever it might be.
If you’ve never thought about how financial planning can help you live the life you have in mind, consider these six reasons you can benefit from a tailored financial plan.
- A financial plan brings your life goals into focus.
Some people assume financial planning is about amassing more money. The real purpose of a financial plan is to articulate and prioritize your life goals, then develop a plan of action to achieve them.
We all have goals, but the busy-ness of life can leave little time to focus on them. Perhaps you want to send your children to private school or fund their college education, buy a second home, start a business, or retire early. The process of financial planning brings those goals into focus, by requiring you to stop and think about what’s important to you and what you want your money to enable you to do. That’s critical, because the point of building wealth isn’t to attain a bigger portfolio; it’s to fund the life you want to lead.
- A financial plan leverages expertise and data to your advantage.
Most people feel confident about their ability to manage money day-to-day, but figuring out how to achieve bigger, long-term goals is more involved. A data-driven approach is the optimal way to gain the insights you need to take the best steps toward achieving what’s important to you and your family.
Customized financial planning provides that data-driven approach, combining the expertise of experienced planners with the output of advanced financial models. It’s the exact combination of resources you need to maximize your odds of reaching your goals.
- A financial plan helps you develop purposeful money habits.
Money isn’t useful in and of itself; it should help you live the life you’ve visualized for you and your family. When you view finances through that lens, you begin to appreciate the value of being purposeful with your money.
A customized financial plan helps you build thoughtful money habits by focusing your attention on the goals you want your money to fund. With a plan as your guide, you’ll find it easier to adopt saving and investing routines that help you track toward your life goals.
- A financial plan empowers you to adapt as life evolves.
If there’s one thing you can count on in life, it’s change. Life can throw you many curveballs—from medical issues to job loss to family challenges—and they all have the potential to impact your short-term finances and long-range goals. That’s where financial planning can prove especially valuable.
Creating a customized financial plan isn’t a one-time event; it’s a dynamic process that equips you to adjust to life’s ups and downs or chart a different course as your goals change. An experienced financial planner will use sophisticated software to model different scenarios and their impact on your finances. Rather than wonder how an unexpected situation or a change of plans will affect your goals, you can see the impact in black and white, then decide how to best move forward.
- A financial plan helps reduce stress.
Money can be a source of anxiety for anyone, at any income level. Some of that stress comes from not knowing whether you’re progressing toward your goals.
People who go through the exercise of developing a financial plan gain peace of mind and confidence from the process itself. When you outsource a vital function like financial planning to seasoned professionals who have extensive experience helping individuals and families achieve their life goals, it can lift a big burden off your shoulders. You’ll spend less time worrying and have more mental energy to focus on doing exactly what it will take to turn your goals into reality.
- A financial plan replaces uncertainty with knowledge.
As the saying goes, knowledge is power. And that’s especially true when it comes to finances. But without a documented plan based on real numbers, you’re more likely to feel uncertain than confident about your current situation and financial future.
A customized financial plan eliminates the guesswork that often dictates financial decisions. Rather than wondering whether you’ll reach your goals, or simply hoping for the best, the plan gives you the knowledge to understand where you stand today and how to reach your destination tomorrow.
