Getting Started with Financial Planning
Jul 15, 2024
When it comes to financial and estate planning, knowing how to start seems to be the toughest part. While we already have plenty of content on starting estate planning, building up that estate is its own subject. Getting started is very dependent on where you are in life and what goals you have, and financial advisors often have to lay out some hard realities about retirement.
I had the opportunity to speak to John Heck of Protection Point Advisors to review the process of getting started in financial and retirement planning at these various ages and under different circumstances. One thing from the discussion was clear... there is no one-size or one plan fits all. Here are some of the different things to consider:
* Meeting with a financial advisor who has familiarity with all types of investments to put together a solid financial plan. This is really the best place to begin because an experienced financial professional can help you see where you are currently, establish goals for where you want to go, and then make recommendations that suit your life to try to get there.
* One of the biggest enemies of growing your finances is debt, particularly debt with high interest rates. Part of your overall plan should be to eliminate high interest debt as soon as possible. Lower interest debt, such as low-interest mortgage (if you are successful in getting one) may be OK if what you are making on your investments is outpacing the mortgage interest rate.
* We spend a lot more of the money we earn than we realize, and cutting some expenses that aren't really necessary can greatly increase what you can invest. Taking a month to actually write down all of your expenses each day as you purchase them, you may realize there are a lot of things you could do less expensively.
Once you have a handle on what you have, where you want to be, and how you much you can afford to invest, then you can intelligently discuss risk tolerance and types of investments with you financial advisor.
Check out the full interview on the YouTube channel here:
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