Are you anxious about your finances? If you are, you’re certainly not alone. Anxiety is reaching epic proportions around the world and finance is high on the list of things that people worry about. In one US survey 85% of those questioned suffered from financial anxiety in one form or another and around two thirds said it was affecting their health.
I see many new clients who are stressed about their finances and I understand why. Being an expat brings additional concerns because living in a foreign country often means that there are fewer financial safety nets, such as social security and free healthcare, to fall back on if things go wrong.
The good thing, and one of the most rewarding aspects of my job, is that financial planning can remove many of the causes of financial anxiety. By taking control of your financial situation, looking at your concerns rationally and putting security measures in place to protect yourself and your family you can gain peace of mind knowing that you are prepared for whatever life throws your way. The process can be genuinely life changing.
If anxiety about your financial situation is keeping you awake at night, just a few hours of your time sat with a professional financial advisor could change your life for the better. There are two main elements to financial planning which both need tackling to give you the peace of mind that you are looking for.
One is the creation of wealth which means saving and investing in order to safeguard your financial future, in particular during retirement. The other is protecting that wealth so that if any of your biggest fears are realised, you have measures in place to deal with the fallout. Usually this is done by taking out various different types of insurance which transfer the risk to the insurer.
These are the fears that I come across most frequently, some of which may apply to you, and the solutions that I put in place with my clients to solve their issues.
Fear 1: Losing your job
The solution: Income protection insurance
Fear 2: Losing all the money invested
The solution: Buy and hold investing over the long term into a diversified portfolio based on your tolerance to risk
Fear 3: Becoming ill and unable to work with unplanned medical expenses
The solution: Comprehensive medical insurance and critical illness cover
Fear 4: An unplanned emergency
The solution: Saving an emergency fund of six months worth of expenditure
Fear 5: Outliving retirement savings or having insufficient funds to retire
The solution: Robust retirement planning based on concrete goals and tailored to your personal circumstances
Fear 6: Death/loss of the primary breadwinner
The solution: Adequate personal life insurance
Fear 7: Fear of the wrong people getting the inheritance money on death
The solution: Writing an up to date will and placing life insurance and investments in trust
Fear 8: Fear of budgeting
The solution: Tracking income and expenditure with relevant tools – it’s really not as hard as you think and there are plenty of resources out there to help!
If you are concerned about your financial situation, incessant worrying is not going to make your anxiety go away. That will only happen when you face up to your financial fears and start taking positive action steps to dealing with them. I’d love to help you do that.
All the above solutions are possible for you and and I truly believe that together we can put a stop to your anxiety and give you the confidence that your financial future is assured. Just imagine the peace of mind that will bring?
Let’s fight your fears together – contact me today at cturner@infinitysolutions.com!
Senior Financial Consultant- Highly Commended Emerging Talent of The Year (International Investment Awards 2019)
I aim to maintain and grow an excellent relationship with each client which lasts throughout their working lives and beyond. I strongly believe that a good financial adviser can make a significant difference to an individual’s financial success and positively impact their lives, which is why I love doing what I do.
