Time to review your financial roadmap

Everyone should have a financial roadmap.

Life is a journey, with stops โ€“ from buying a home and starting a family to arranging a pension - along the way. 

But we all have different journeys. Some will want to retire early. Others will want to start a business. Some want to buy their own home. Others want a buy to let portfolio.

But wherever you want to head, a financial roadmap can be a vital tool to help you get there.

It should include mileposts, to ensure that, for example, you have the right level of investments or pension contributions to meet your goals on schedule.

At Continuum, we offer a bespoke solution, tailored to your individual needs and objectives. They may have some common elements; we all need pensions, mortgages, insurance protection and investments, but we need them suited to our own circumstances and personal financial goals.  

A good roadmap can even help you get back on track when things go wrong. But sometimes, even with a financial roadmap, you can find that you are not where you need to be.

What goes wrong with financial roadmaps?

There are three reasons for your roadmap to leave you lost.

The first is that your goals have changed.  You might enjoy your career in your 20s and 30s โ€“ but want early retirement by your 50s.

The second is that you have hit a bump in the road. No journey goes completely to plan. A career setback, accident or illness can mean you canโ€™t stick to your roadmap. 

But the third is that the entire landscape has changed, and the route is no longer leading in the right direction.

As we have seen over the past year or so, the way ahead can change and sometimes those changes can be frightening. In February 2020 we were all going about our business with no idea that in a monthโ€™s time the world would be in lockdown.

Markets went into freefall, leading to panic about pensions and investments. People were losing their income or having to adapt to a new way of life. Much of the panic proved unfounded, but now we have record inflation and the possibility of recession.

The chances are that you need to look at your roadmap again.

What has changed?

Your priorities may have changed in the wake of covid. Many people are looking at their lifestyle and realising that they may want to spend more time with the family, and less time commuting. You may have had to deal with some new challenges. But the financial landscape has changed for everyone. Covid and lockdown may have boosted sectors such as online retailing and brought down others such as high street retailers. At the same time, working from home has become the new normal. 

Once safe investments may look less secure, while new opportunities for profit have been created. You need to understand these changes and the impact on your financial plans.

A change of priorities and changes to the investment landscape can mean it is time to look again at your pension, at investments and even at where you live, with fresh eyes.

A changed world means that it is time to update your financial roadmap. 

What should you do now?

At Continuum we work to understand your goals and a strategy to help you to reach them. We always sit down with clients, to know their life goals, and prepare a financial roadmap to help reach them.  But those maps need to change over time.

  • If you have investments, it could be time to look again at your portfolio to ensure it is best suited for your current circumstances and ambitions 
  • You may want to review your pension, to check it is on track to provide the retirement income you need
  • It may be time to take a fresh look at your insurance cover and ensure that your loved ones have the protection they deserve.

Whatever your new financial objectives, at Continuum we can help. Our company mission is to bring clients a lifetime of financial planning. We can help you find new financial answers now, and work with you in the years to come as new challenges and new opportunities appear.

To get your finances roadmap up to date, contact us today to get started.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

The value of your investment and income from it can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount invested

When investing your capital is at risk

The information contained in this article is based on the opinion of Continuum and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to suitable Protection products or investment strategy, you should seek independent financial advice before embarking on any course of action.

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