Financial Planning Advice For The Numerically-Challenged

Stock brokers, tycoons, and accountants only comprise a tiny fraction of the world's population. These people are the lucky few who were born with a special relationship with digits and who have no trouble in handling their day-to-day finances. For the bigger portion of the planet who scratches their heads when faced with numbers, managing cash flow becomes a heavier chore. It only becomes easier with the right financial planning advice.

Financial transactions like basic insurance, savings, loans, and credit card bills are things we can do by ourselves. These things are simple and easy to deal with. However, there comes a point where different kinds of taxes, investments, mortgages, insurances, and pensions get confusing to the point of making us feel suffocated. This is where we look up to experts to regain control and avoid making the wrong decisions. Seeking the help of financial planners are not just for big-shot companies and millionaire movie stars. It is wise to approach these people for more complex money management issues, since they are well-versed in this field and have access to other finance hubs where they can negotiate the best deals on your behalf.

Choosing the right financial planner starts with only one thing to consider: professional integrity. You'll need a person you can trust and someone you can be comfortable with. Factors such as compensation are secondary. Remember, once you hire a planner, you give that person access to your financial status and allow them to lead you to your goals. They can either make or break your financial future.

The first thing financial advisers will do is assess your current financial profile, from your assets to your liabilities. After seeing this, they can give you an unbiased picture of your monetary strengths and weaknesses, and tell you whether or not you are on the right track towards your financial goals. From there, your planners will turn into your partners. They will formulate a financial game plan with you.

They will then work with you in competing goals such as your child's education, mortgages, taxes, investments, loans or insurance. You will be guided on how to properly allocate money in all of these. In making investments, your financial planner will help you manage your decisions in a way that keeps taxes to a minimum and more of your money invested. With their help, you will become more confident that your hard work will not go to waste, and that you will be properly guided in reaching your financial goals.

A Financial Advisor Can Secure Your Dreams

Ever since kindergarten, we have already been taught to dream big. We would take out our crayons and draw our future houses with a family, a car, and a pet dog named Rosie. Sometimes, we would even play dress up in the international costume of the places we want to visit in the future. As adults, we come to a realisation that in order to get hold of these, we need to work hard for it. Working hard and managing money to meet these goals, however, can get tricky at some point. This is why having a financial advisor can be beneficial in securing finances, and in turn, getting to our dreams. Here are a few tips in finding the right one for you.

Find someone you can trust. Be careful because it is easy for any person to say they are financial planners. Stick with the professionals with designations and educational backgrounds recognised by the state. It is safer to get references from friends and relatives to have an overview of the planner's capabilities. Also, check their certificates and do research whether their qualifications are legitimate. Hiring someone without checking his or her credentials is risky. They may not know what they are doing and put your money in the wrong investments that can deplete your savings or bury you with high fees. You do not want to entrust your future in the wrong hands.

The next thing to consider is what kind of financial advisor suits you according to your needs. Not all of them offer comprehensive advice from taxes to loans. There are types of planners that only focus on estate planning or on retirement. Find out which area of your finances you need help on and what you expect from the advisor. Also beware of those who are actually insurance salesmen tied to companies that offer advice just to benefit their businesses and increase sales.

When it comes to compensation, financial planners can be paid in three ways- flat fees, commission, or assets. Payment through flat fees is where you pay per visit or per hour. In commission, every time you purchase investments, a part of the total amount you pay will be deducted and that portion goes to your advisor. A fee based on assets are where planners charge you annually based on a percentage of profit you gained from the investment advice they have provided. Talk to your planner about this before sealing the deal.