“Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”
While the prognosis may seem daunting, there’s a lot of truth in this statement, especially when it comes to your finances.
Because there are lots of foreseeable and unforeseeable variables that can affect your finances, it’s essential to have a solid financial plan in place.
But before we discuss the importance of a financial plan, let us first understand what it means.
What is a financial Plan?
Put simply, a financial plan is your roadmap to actualizing your financial goals.
It comprises a budget, an emergency corpus, wealth-building investments, and retirement savings.
A financial plan is critical to helping you manage your daily finances, meet your changing financial needs, stay prepared for potential economic crises, grow your wealth, and save for retirement, while working towards achieving your big (and small) dreams.
Benefits of a Financial Plan
There are many benefits of financial planning which can have far-reaching positive effects on your life.
If you don’t have a financial plan, here are 6 good reasons why you should consider creating one:
1. Helps in Decision Making
A financial plan takes stock of your present as well as your future to provide guidance for action planning and decision-making.
Actions focused and coordinated on specific outcomes are much more effective.
With a financial plan in place, you would not take any wrong decisions that would affect your economic well-being.
2. Cushions Emergency Expenses
Have you ever wondered what will happen to you or your family if a sudden medical emergency, job loss, or roof repair comes knocking?
“Let’s borrow some money from the vacation fund.” There goes the trip to Disneyland you have been planning all those years!
A financial plan will come to your rescue here. It makes room for an emergency and helps you be ready for any curveball life may throw you.
Whether you like it or not, emergencies can arise at any time. Your car can decide to break down on your way to an interview after years of reliable travel. With an emergency fund that will keep you afloat during such an unforeseen crisis, you can restore your quality of life to what it was faster.
3. Improved Spending Habits
Spending more than what you earn is a common thing these days.
Many facilities like credit cards, installment services, ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes, etc., entice you to overlook your budget and spend more than necessary.
Whether it’s purchasing the latest tech or spending on experiences you can afford to save on, you find yourself in a sticky situation at the end of the month when the bills keep pouring into your mailbox.
The growing bills only take you further away from your long-term goals.
A financial plan thus helps infuse discipline in your life. By evaluating your spending habits, you can cut back on unnecessary expenses and save more instead of spending more.
4. You Enjoy a Better Standard of Living
A financial plan will improve the quality of life you live.
From wise investments early on in your career to being able to save on yearly taxes, you’ll be able to save more, grow your wealth, and finance the lifestyle you desire. Thus, you can attain your financial goals without compromising your standard of living.
With a realistic financial plan in place, being constantly broke will be a thing of the past. Money will rarely be tight. All those month-end woes will be history.
A financial plan will also help in ensuring you have access to cash for the smaller pleasures in life without having to dip into your personal savings.
5. You Secure Your Retirement
Most of us hate thinking about what retirement will look like, but a financial plan will force you to.
This is vital as saving up for retirement and potential healthcare costs that arise during this stage of life can make or break your post-working years.
Retirement is inevitable and ensuring you’re prepared for it is a crucial part of the personal financial planning process. At a time when you want to sit back and reap the fruits of your labor, your retirement assets will come in handy.
6. Creates Peace of Mind
A financial plan also encourages mental health.
Compared to people without any sort of financial plan, those with a financial plan are less stressed and tend to be more optimistic about their future.
With a plan in place, finances are less likely to keep you awake at night. Rather, they can provide clarity, thus lessening stress and anxiety while improving quality of life.
DIY Vs. Professional Help
Understanding why a financial plan is important is the first step toward a secure financial future.
While it sounds like an easy document to write, it’s advisable to draft a financial plan with the help of a financial planner or advisor.
Unless you have a strong background in finance, going alone means you could miss some vital components, which can prove disastrous.
For a working individual, insufficient retirement savings can lead to a miserable lifestyle later. For a business, poorly managed tax preparation could result in unexpected debt and a loss of carefully accumulated wealth.
Contact Us
At WWM Financial, we take the time to assess your current financial situation, gain an understanding of your short- and long-term needs and goals, and put together a realistic financial plan to help you achieve everything your heart desires.
For help with your financial plan or to learn more about the services we offer, get in touch with a member of our team today.
WWM Financial is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor.
The opinions expressed in this program are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. Any past performance discussed during this program is no guarantee of future results. Any indices referenced for comparison are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital; please seek advice from a licensed professional.
