Our last blog post talked about putting the foundations in place to make life as financially secure and comfortable as possible.

These small but essential steps are, we believe, critical to keeping your financial plan on track. Remember, financial planning is about so much more than investing, and next in our series about the cornerstones of financial planning is about ensuring financial security.

If there’s one thing that’s certain in life, it’s uncertainty. Sometimes life’s not that straightforward and can throw a curve ball that’s unexpected. Sometimes they’re positive things, but occasionally they’re not so positive and even potentially catastrophic.

So as well as helping to support and maintain a financial plan through the good times, we’re also here to help support them through the not so good times too.

For most of us the biggest risk to financial security is the loss of income. That might be because of:

• Losing a job
• Not being able to work due to illness
• The death of a loved one

We’d always recommend that you keep a buffer or emergency fund that could cover three to six months of expenditure. This means that should an event happen, you’d be able to maintain monthly commitments in the short term.

But we’ll also help you to consider the longer term effects and put plans in place to make sure:

• Debts can be repaid
• Lost income can be replaced
• Future goals can still be achieved

We’ll also make sure that your Will is in place and up-to-date and, where it’s beneficial, that you have a Power of Attorney arranged too.

Nobody really wants to think about the bad things that might happen and it’s not always easy to predict or protect against them. However, taking the time to consider the impact of these types of events can stand you in good stead for a future that’s a bit more financially secure and can give a lot of peace of mind.

People often think that you need to have lots of money or be wealthy to need a financial planner. But that’s not true.

At Chilvester, we believe that financial advice should be available for everybody regardless of age, income or wealth. We provide just the advice people need, starting with the simple things first.

We don’t just help people invest their money. The foundations of financial planning start with getting the basics right. We help people put all of the building blocks in place for a financially secure life.

We help our clients to analyse their income and expenditure, reduce costs and set a budget. In simple terms, spending less than you earn and being intentional about your spending and savings will build the strongest foundation for your financial plan.

We help people to pay down debts and reduce their liabilities. It’s no use trying to save money for the future if you have high interest debts. Paying down debt can bring a sense of wellbeing and can help to free up more money each month to plan for other things.

We help people put an emergency fund in place to help protect them from financial shocks. At its core, financial planning is about having the right money in the right place at the right time. Before thinking about long term goals, we’ll make sure there’s money available to cover those unforeseen circumstances.

And none of this depends on how much money you’ve got.

It’s only once we’ve got these foundations in place,  that we’ll start to think about long term saving and investing for the future.

Speak to one of our experts today to start building your financial plan.