Good Financial Advice Is About A Lot More Than Just Products
The days of a Financial Broker only carrying out the role of an “insurance salesman” belong in the dim and distant past. Of course identifying the needs of our clients, recommending product solutions and finding the best product to meet your specific need is still a very important role that we carry out. Every day we work with our clients on the important tasks of developing a financial plan, financially protecting your family, building a suitable investment portfolio that reflects your desire for risk and helping you to plan for your retirement. But our expertise and capability go a long way past this narrow service alone.
We play an equally valuable role as your financial guardian, the person who will help you to manage your financial life and to avoid making financial mistakes. This is not about products, instead it is about prudent financial management throughout your life. Our role is the “expert in your corner” who is watching your back, helping to remove financial worries through careful planning and action, and helping you to make the most of your financial life.
Of course sometimes this role is simply about listening and offering a second opinion. We can guide you in relation to many of your “big” financial questions – changing jobs, significant purchases, inheriting or indeed transferring your own wealth. We’re not the experts in every area, but where we can’t help you, we can usually put you in touch with someone in our network who can. So outside of our product role, we’ve listed below some of the areas that clients approach us about for our guidance.
Family Budgeting
We all know that if we just spend money blindly, our money simply doesn’t last as long. Having a budget and spending plan helps our money to go further each month. If you are diligent about recording your spending (even just for a period of a month or two each year), you quickly identify areas of waste. Do you need to buy that second coffee each day? Are you paying more for your utility bills than you should? Are you actually watching all those Sports Channels that you’re paying for? Lots of small savings add up to big amounts. While we can’t do the budgeting for you, we can question you on your own budget and help you to make those savings!
Tax Advice
We recognise that while most business owners usually have an accountant, many PAYE workers don’t. So what do you do when you need tax advice? While we don’t hold ourselves out to be experts in every area of tax, we modestly claim a good general knowledge of personal taxation, particularly when it impacts on your personal finances. At best we may answer your question or at least give you a second opinion. At worst, we’ll usually know an expert who we can refer you to, for a more complete answer to a complex tax question that you might have. It’s worth a phone call to us!
Wills and Enduring Power of Attorney
We help you plan your financial future for the whole of your life and indeed for the end of your life. Wealth transfer and passing money to the next generation is a key element of financial planning. We want to make sure your wealth is transferred as tax efficiently as possible. We also want to make sure your wishes as to what is done with your money are respected fully, both should you become incapacitated and unable to manage your own affairs, or when you die. We are not legal experts and will not be able to help you in actually putting the required legal frameworks in place, but we can talk you through the risks of not acting in these areas and what the process will entail. We can also point you in the direction of someone who can help you in these areas. While most people are aware that a will sets out your wishes in relation to your affairs after you die, there tends to be less known about an Enduring Power of Attorney. This is a legal document that can be set up by a person during their life when in good mental health. It allows another specially appointed person to take actions on their behalf should they become incapacitated through illness in the future. This prevents assets being frozen and going under the control of the courts and allows the person acting on your behalf to make a range of personal care decisions on your behalf. As mentioned at the top of this article, we want you to view us as your financial guide, to help you avoid making mistakes. We’ve listed some of the areas in which we might help you, beyond the usual product advice. However there are potentially many more. If you have a financial question, why not pick up the phone and run it by us?
Contact Robert Keary Email: robert@kearyfinancial.com
