It’s a fact of life: nobody’s perfect. We’re all bound to make mistakes at one point or another. But the good news is that you can avoid some classic financial mistakes that many doctors make by learning from others. Follow these tips to ensure your financial plan is good as it can be.
Don’t skip out on any part of planning
It might be tempting to skip out on some steps, but it’s important to be thorough when building your financial plan.
One of the fundamentals of planning is ensuring that your income exceeds your outgoings. Part of this entails ensuring you’re paying the right amount of tax, checking your tax code, and claiming all available relief.
By identifying all your income and expenses, you’ll be able to see exactly where your money is going and you’ll be able to find nonessential areas where you can cut spending. You’ll also be able to prioritise ways to pay off your debts and start a savings plan.
Think about your attitude to risk
When you focus on the investment portion, you’ll need to think about your attitude toward risk. And you’ll also need to consider how much protection you’ll need and how much coverage you want to protect your family and loved ones financially.
These all form the basics of a financial plan and with them all in place, your plan is off to a good start.
Don’t work alone or with the wrong kind of adviser
Even if you don’t think your financial situation warrants working with a professional adviser, the truth of the matter is that everyone could benefit from professional assistance. When you work with an adviser, be sure you seek out an independent adviser. Restricted advisers have limitations on what they can and can’t recommend, while an independent adviser has no ties to certain products or solutions, so they can source products from anywhere on the market.
At Medics Money, we value openness and transparency, so working with the right kind of adviser who has your best interests in mind is always your best bet.
Remember to review your plan
If you think that once you design your financial plan then you never have to revisit it again, you’re wrong. Not only should you review your plan after every major life change – marriage, kids, new job, etc. – you should be regularly reviewing your plan to ensure it’s in line with your current circumstances and will still help you reach your goals. Not only will your needs evolve, but financial products will as well! Maybe you no longer need certain products or actually require more or different ones, but if you don’t review your plan, you’ll never know.
On top of that, you’ll need to ensure you’re keeping up with tax changes, pension legislation, and amending any investment choices if you can benefit from them.
These tips are only the beginning
For even more ideas to help avoid classic financial mistakes, listen to our podcast: Are you making one of these classic mistakes? with Guy Roper, owner of Sunrise IFA.
For more information about Guy, check out his listing with reviews.
