Financial Planning doesn’t have to be dull

You may have been advised to see a financial planner by your lawyer or accountant to help you sort out your finances on divorce or arrange a pension. This doesn’t sound very exciting but what if I told you that this one step could change your life and help your dreams come true? Financial planning doesn't have to be dull.

Making dreams come true

One such person came to see me 18 months ago to review her pensions. She had been told she could no longer work due to health issues. She was only 53. Also, she was a single mum to two kids at university and trying to run a large house. However, she didn’t have crazy dreams, just a desire to keep living her life. I should mention that she likes buying the odd pair of designer shoes, although this would be more than the odd pair, if I’d let her. More than anything, she wants to try living in her family’s home country of Eire. Her dad had felt a pull to go back there but had never gone. He sadly passed a few years ago.

Financial tools

Of course, we reviewed her pensions. More importantly, we talked about what her life looked like and how she would like it to look. Pensions, along with savings and other investments are tools. They help you to be able to do the things you want to do. Of course, they are not exciting in their own right but what they can do can change lives. We worked out how she could use her “tools” and put a plan in place to help her to be able to do all the things she wants to do.

Living the dream

On Thursday, the phone rang. My fabulous client has rented a cottage in her spiritual home of Ireland. She booked the ferry, got tenants for her house and is very soon making her dream come true. The move is initially for 6 months but will be made permanent assuming everything is as she expects. She said to me, “Some people think that financial planning is dull but it isn’t. This is what it’s all about. It’s about helping people to do the things they want to.”

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If you would like to see how we might be able to help you to live the life you would really love, please contact me.

Tamsin Caine is a Chartered Financial Planner at Smart Divorce. She specialises in working with separating or divorcing clients to help them to understand how to divide their finances to move forward with their lives. If you would like to speak to Tamsin or find out more about how she can help, email her at Tamsin@smartdivorce.co.uk or call her on 07975 922766.