Investment Planning

Step 4: What Is Your Risk Appetite? 

Risk appetite is a personal preference and can be difficult to assess. It is based on how you feel about being exposed to certain levels of risk, when considering the possibility of losing money because of said risk. Our Independent Financial Advisors can help you understand your risk appetite.

STEP 5: HOW MUCH CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE?

For many people, this is the first thing they think about, but it is important to have an idea of your risk appetite before discussing contribution amounts. This  can give a sense as to the types of investments you are comfortable with, which in turn can give us a rough indication of how much return you may be able to earn.

Now that we have these three variables (goal amount, timeframe, likely rate of return) we can assess how much you’ll need to contribute to reach your goals. If the amount you need to contribute seems do-able, great! Move onto the next step.

If it seems out of reach, you may need to choose more conservative goals, or work out how you can cut back on other costs.

At Town Close Financial Planning, we will help you determine a balance you are happy with, whilst ensuring your short term spending plans are protected.

STEP 6: INVESTMENT MATCHING AND IMPLEMENTING

Now that the groundwork has been done, you can start looking at what type of investments fit your variables. There are numerous investment products out there, so we’ll help you find those that best match your requirements.

You’ll also need to consider things like tax efficiency and investment liquidity, but again we can help with this.

Remember, a diversified portfolio is a good investment strategy to prevent against loss. You can read our article about investment diversification here.

Only once we, and you, are satisfied that we’ve found the right way forward for you, do we then start investing your money.

If you need personal financial advice, the team at TCFP can help. We have a wealth of experience when it comes to investing and can help you create your optimal investment plan.

(Note: investing in any product including the stock market, mutual funds or exchange traded funds, there is always a degree of risk and your capital can fall as well as rise.)

STEP 7: MONITOR AND UPDATE

Congratulations! You’ve done the initial hard work, have a plan in place and have started investing. We will keep an eye on things to ensure they stay on track. We’ll hold regular reviews with you and make periodic adjustments if and when necessary.

Life events – a change in jobs, divorce or having children all effect your financial situation, and may also change what was once important to you. Investment planning is not a ‘set and forget’ strategy. It requires ongoing maintenance and attention to ensure it will achieve your goals.

We at TCFP will regularly check in with you and ensure your plan is still fit for purpose.

GETTING HELP

As we’ve seen, it is important to build a strong but flexible investment plan. There are many aspects to creating a robust plan, and we can offer financial advice, implement a plan, and keep it on track. 

Let us do the hard work and you can relax and focus on thinking about the day when these goals are achieved.

What our clients say

“We had an in depth meeting with Jeremy and he explained what he can do for us. He asked if we had any other investments and private pensions. Jeremy went through in great detail the benefits of investing our money. He produced a plan outlining our investment for the coming years which put our minds at rest. We are very impressed with the professional way he handled our investments and the interest that we have made.” – Essex client (Testimonial from Vouchedfor).

You can find many more client testimonials here.