By David Lamb CFP™ MCSI
When people complete our ScoreMy questionnaire for the first time, the most common low score is not worrying about money.
Financial stress can take a huge toll on your emotional and physical health and your relationships and the overall quality of your life, leading to insomnia, weight gain and depression. It’s not worth it; there are more important things in life than money!
A detailed financial plan can help remove this anxiety.
Detailed data analysis, including understanding your income, expenditure, assets and liabilities can help identify the cause for concern. This process will also include – you’ve guessed it – cash flow projections.
Once the issues have been identified, a financial plan can be developed to address these issues.
Plans could include a spending plan to ensure you do not exceed your budget or create some spare money to increase savings and how to repay debt more quickly (the word ‘mortgage’ contains the French word for death so get rid of it as quick as possible!)
Also planning for retirement so you can stop doing the things you don’t want to do and start doing the things you do want to do. All without the fear of running out of money.
There is no point in creating a plan if it is not implemented. A well-structured financial plan will include simple actions, steps to help you achieve your objects.
How do you eat an elephant? In small bites.
Life is complicated and circumstances can change, so it is essential that your plan is reviewed on a regular basis and adjustments made as, and when, required.
Along the way you are bound to suffer setbacks. These things happen, don’t beat yourself up but get back on track as quickly as possible.
Professional advice can be invaluable in helping to overcome money worries.
In extreme cases the following websites may be helpful:
- nationaldebtadviceline.org.uk
- nhs.uk/mental-health/advice-for-life-situations-and-events/how-to-cope-with-financial-worries
In my experience, the causes of money worries are rarely unique and in most cases a financial planner will be able to draw on their experience to help create a well-structured financial plan to help you exorcise those money worries.
A word of warning: if you meet a financial adviser and they want to know about your money without getting to know you first, they are probably more interested in your money than you – and are best avoided.
If you do not know how much is enough, you do not have a financial plan.
- You can build your own cash flow model at lambfinancial.co.uk and score your financial planning at lambfinancial.co.uk/scoremy-financial-planning
