Many people that come to see us have been busy living life, buying houses, bringing up the children, changing jobs and then suddenly find themselves with numerous bank and savings accounts, ISAs, life assurance policies and Pensions. 

They have spent many years accumulating lots of different accounts, plans and policies which they probably needed at the time, but aren’t sure why they were set up and what they should be doing with them now.

You may be one of these people that often thinks about why you have so many different pensions and whether having one pension would be better or whether the life assurance policy you set up many years ago when the children were still young and you had a mortgage is still necessary.

Sometimes the easiest option is to do nothing, I like to refer to it as a ‘ceiling of complexity’. There is so much to do and so much to think about that you just can’t get past it. The ‘ceiling’ is pushing down on you and decisions become harder to make. The trouble is doing nothing and not taking action could have a detrimental effect on your future or even your family’s future.  

Wouldn’t it be nice to break through that ‘ceiling’ and feel so well organised and know that everything is in the right place or being held for the right reasons. When this happens everything becomes simpler and decisions about what to do next become clearer.

Most people can start this themselves by setting aside some time to go through their finances. Perhaps start by looking at where you are now, how much you are earning, how much you are spending and then build up an accurate record of all your various assets, liabilities, pensions and insurance policies. You then need to ask yourself some important questions. What do I still need and what will help me achieve my goals. Will my family be financially secure if I died or was unable to work? Do I need to spend less and save more? Is my money working hard for me and could it be simplified?  

Getting started is probably the hardest thing to do so when you know where you are and where you want to be you can begin taking action. At this stage you may choose to get specialist advice to help you.

A good financial planner will be able to dig deeper into your plans and goals for the future and review your existing pensions, investments and protection policies. They will help you on your quest to become financially well organised and ensure everything, including you, are all working in the right direction.  

You can then spend less time worrying about what you’re not doing and more time doing the things you enjoy.