What Is A Financial Planner?
Financial Planners are qualified professionals who can deal with matters that concern a person’s money and finances. Their main job is to thoroughly assess a customer’s current financial status and goals, then conceive a program or plan that allows them to reach those goals.
Who Usually Needs Financial Planners?
“When you reach a point in which you’re constantly afraid that you’re going to make a mistake with your investments, then you need professional advice” – Raymond Mignone, certified financial planner in Little Neck, N. Y.
There’s no such thing as being the “wrong person” to find help from a financial planner. Anyone and everyone is free to avail of their advice and services when they have the means to hire one. Their job is to assist you and not to push you away and leave you to solve your own problems.
As long as you have the desire to keep your finances in check and to be more strategic in where you allocate your money, you can hire a Financial Planner. These professionals will be more than glad to help an individual who is serious and passionate about his/her investments.
Generally though, the most common types of people or group of people who seek the advice of Financial Planners are the following:
- Business owners, companies and corporations
- Young adults who want to make the most of borrowed money into good investments
- Older adults who are thinking of retiring or are about to retire
- People who inherited money/wealth and want to properly sort it out
- People who plan to go into/start doing business in the sharemarket or property market
What Do Financial Planners Do?
As mentioned earlier, a Financial Planner’s main aim is to help you reach your financial goals or set realistic ones if you don’t have any. They come up with personalized strategies and teach you how to best apply them in your life.
The first meeting with a Financial Planner is like a “Getting to Know You” session where you start to initially get comfortable with each other. Being with a Financial Planner you’re comfortable with is important as you will be meeting with him/her more than once.
The initial meeting is also where you have to divulge in the information your planner needs in order to create a good strategy. Be as open as you can with him/her, tell him/her what you want to do in life, what kind of lifestyle you want, and your status financially, etc.
Once the Financial Planner has all the information s/he needs, s/he will start discussing the key building blocks of your financial plan/strategy. These key building blocks include budgeting, managing debt, investing, asset protection, etc.
After the plan has been settled and agreed upon by you and your planner, implementation can then take place. However, that’s not the end of it.
As you go on with your life you may experience some expected or unexpected life changes which can affect your current financial plan. For example, a single man with a financial plan suitable for a single life gets married and plans to have children needs to redo his plan.
Remember that “the only constant thing in this world is change”, and sometimes even the tiniest adjustments can have great impacts on you financially. This is why it’s important to find a Financial Planner you’re comfortable with in order for the two of you to have a healthy and professional long-term relationship.
Where Can I Hire A Good Financial Planner?
Skilled Financial Planners in Washington can be easier to find than you might think, especially these days where people usually find what they need through online searches. Today, plenty of financial planning firms with quality services have their own websites with contact forms that are easy to understand and fill up.
In fact, financial planning services are available almost anywhere in the United States, since everyone needs some professional financial advice every once in a while. So don’t fret if you’re in need of some advice yourself, because you’ll surely find the right person who can give it to you.
