Key benefits of a documented financial plan

Good financial advisers will commend the benefits of having a documented financial plan.  A plan might sound dry but it helps you reflect on your life and your aspirations. The process of writing down goals establishes commitment and forces you to call into question your values.

A great financial plan puts the control into your hands meaning you can make better decisions about your financial future.

Here are some of the key reasons you should start building your financial plan:

1. achieve your goals

The very act of planning and committing to goals increases your likelihood of achieving them. Success coaches (outside personal finance) recommend sharing your goals with at least three people because you are less likely to park your ambitions.

Making time to think about your goals is your first step in taking control of your financial future.

2. provide for your family

We all want to be able to provide for our nearest and dearest.

The world of tax and inheritance is increasingly complex, and the ‘right’ solution for many might not be suitable for you and your family. This is why documenting the most important thing for you and them, be it education, housing or revenue will help you choose the right path.

3. Work less

You might have a retirement age in mind, but could you be in the position to knock a few years off it and still live comfortably? We often encounter senior Superyacht who believe they are ‘on track’ only to find that they could potentially retire sooner than expected.

It is important that your investment strategy, whatever it is, matches your life goals. The only way to understand where you are against your road map is to sit down and plan it out. This is also why it is important to take stock regularly.

4. avoid generic advice

You might decide that an offshore bank account is the best way to protect your savings and provide for your family in the future; this may well be the case, but how did you reach this conclusion?

Was it by searching for the benefits of offshore banking and deciding that you liked the sound of them? Or was it by planning out which elements of your lifestyle are important to you and searching for the solutions to provide it?

While the result may be the same for some, it is not true for everyone. You need to start with you and what you want and then search for the product or solution that provides it. A good financial adviser will be able to help you with this.

5. bespoke is better

A written financial plan is a living document; it’s not goals you set when you are twenty and keep in a drawer until you retire. We all change over time. Your financial plan is just that; yours. Even if you have the same role, the same nationality as another crew member, it is likely that your financial plan (and therefore savings, tax and investment approach) will look very different.

Our situations evolve, and so do our priorities. If you are not reviewing your lifestyle and priorities and adjusting your financial planning in relation to this, there is a risk that your lifestyle and income will no longer be aligned.

A good documented financial plan will help you to understand your current financial position and if you are in line to achieve your goals. While a plan put the odds in your favour, you will have to be the driving force in its implementation.