Without the help of a crystal ball, you can never know what life has in store for you. Indeed, nobody in January of 2020 could have predicted what the next two years would look like!
Of course, while some events can be unwanted and unexpected, others are planned and can change your life for the better. Whatever the future may hold, major changes can have huge implications for your finances, which is why it can often be helpful to seek professional advice.
Read on to find out the five important life events when you should speak to a planner and how they can help you to make the most of them.
1. When you get married or enter a civil partnership
The decision to get married to the person you love can be an incredibly rewarding one and will, without a doubt, be one of the most important milestones of your life. With that in mind, working with a planner can help you to build more financial security for you and your spouse or civil partner.
For a start, you may want to reassess your protection needs. Having life insurance in place can give you greater peace of mind to know that your loved ones won’t have to struggle financially, even if the worst were to happen.
Working with a planner can help you to ensure that you and your spouse or civil partner are fully protected against any unexpected problems, giving you greater peace of mind.
2. When you buy a home
Buying a home can be a huge life milestone, but there can also be a lot of things to think about if you want the move to go smoothly. Working with a planner can help to take the stress out of the process by reducing the number of things you have to worry about.
For example, they can help you to organise any financial documents you may need before speaking to a solicitor. This can mean that there aren’t any unnecessary delays that might slow the process down.
Of course, taking on a mortgage is a major financial commitment, which is why it can also be important for you to protect yourself when you buy a home.
For example, if you fell ill and were unable to work for an extended period, you may struggle to keep up with your monthly repayments. If this happened, you could lose the home you worked so hard to save up for.
Working with a planner can help you to find the protection that meets your needs, so that you don’t have to worry about a financial shock affecting your progress towards your goals.
3. When you move to another country
Moving to a different country and integrating yourself into another culture can be a life-changing experience, opening up exciting opportunities and giving you a new lease on life.
Needless to say, such a decision can also involve a large amount of planning. For example, you may need time to adapt to the financial and tax systems of your new home, which can pose a problem if you aren’t careful.
Here in Singapore, for instance, your taxes aren’t taken directly from your paycheck each month and are instead billed to you at the end of the tax year.
As you might imagine, this can be a bit of a shock if you’ve moved from somewhere like the UK, where it’s done automatically! If you aren’t used to managing your own accounts, it could also cause you a significant amount of stress if you aren’t prepared.
This is another area where working with a planner can really benefit you, as they can use their in-depth knowledge of the local financial system to help you make a smooth transition. This can give you one less thing to worry about, so you can focus on starting your new life.
4. When you start a business
Starting a business and becoming your own boss can be a complex but incredibly rewarding task. If you’re considering it, working with a financial planner can help you to overcome any teething problems that you might initially encounter.
The first few years can often be the most important ones for any business, as this is the time that you establish yourself in your field. Not only do you have to establish a reliable team of employees and advertise yourself to clients, but you also have to build a cash flow and manage your income streams.
Here, working with a planner can really help as they can enable you to make informed decisions about your business. They can act as a useful sounding board when you need to make an important decision, taking into account all the financial details, so you can act with confidence.
5. When the time comes for you to retire
Retirement can be a great opportunity to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rewards of all your hard work. You probably already have some ideas about how you’d like to spend it, whether that’s taking long foreign holidays, mastering your hobbies, or simply just spending more time with your loved ones.
Of course, if you want to be able to enjoy a comfortable and sustainable lifestyle when the time comes to retire, it can be important to manage your wealth carefully. In this important chapter of your life, concerns about money are the last thing you need.
Working with a planner can help you to find a sustainable withdrawal amount, taking into account things such as how much wealth you have and what your retirement goals are. As we discussed in a previous article, they can also help you to factor in how inflation may affect your lifestyle.
However you choose to spend your retirement, working with a financial planner can give you greater peace of mind to know you’ll have enough for the lifestyle you want.
Get in touch
If you want to know more about how working with planner can benefit you, we can help. Email us at hello@ascentawealth.com or fill in our online contact form to organise a meeting and we’ll get in touch.
