Most people imagine that a financial planner is a person who sells them life assurance, pensions or investments. Most people have no idea that a real financial planner does much much more than sell these products.

A real financial planner will help you to make sure that all aspects of your financial security are addressed. They will make sure that your will is up-to-date and that the right people will receive your assets upon death, whether this is a long way into the future or tomorrow. They will make sure that you have a lasting power of attorney so that a trusted member of the family can take decisions if you are unable to through accident or illness. They will make sure you have enough life assurance and, indeed, tell you if you have too much. They will help you save for a rainy day and make sure you put enough money into a pension.

But how much is enough? A real financial planner will help you to think about your future, not just your present. A real financial planner will help you to create a jigsaw puzzle showing the life that you would like to lead. They will then help you to build all the pieces of this jigsaw so that at some point in the future you can live that life.

In this respect a real financial planner can almost be a life coach. When times get hard – and in this Covid era they most certainly are – they help you to refocus on where you want to be and, most importantly, help you focus on the steps that you need to take to get there. Just as a strong wind can blow a yacht off course it is very easy for day-to-day life to get in the way of fulfilling dreams. A real financial planner will help you make small changes to keep you on track.

As we head into another lockdown now could well be the time for you to start thinking about your future. What do you want to do for the rest of your lives? How can you achieve financial independence (retirement)? How can you make sure that you never ever run out of money? What steps do you need to take now to protect your loved ones? How can you become financially well organised? Do you know how much money you can spend without fear of running out in the future? What investment return do you need to secure your future? What investment risk are you currently taking? Do these two matchup?

Make sure you talk to a real financial planner, one that can help you look into your financial future so that you can see and understand the direction in which you are travelling.

FFP, a real financial planner, specialises in providing lifelong advice to relatively affluent families who recognise the advantages of expert advice.

 December 2020