Times are changing very rapidly that it is difficult to catch up. You can only survive in this competitive world if you are constantly paced with time. In a matter of minutes, you may lose your job, your money and your life will become miserable if you do have a concrete plan on your financial goals.
When you have a good financial plan, you can be rest assured that you will not be very affected in the event where you lose your job. with sound financial knowledge, you can also hedge yourself of being in a financial difficulties.
The best time to plan your financial goals is when times are good. When the economy is doing very well, you can plan your financial goals more effectively. In financial planning, you are mainly looking at the big ‘picture’. If you do not have the necessary skill in financial planning, you can always engage a financial planner. Just make sure that you financial planner is certified and comply with the law.
Firstly, you have to have a good risk planning. Risk planning is often overlooked as it is an expense in your balance sheet. However, risk management is essential as you cannot predict the future and you have to be proactive for any changes. Risk planning needs differ with the life cycle that you are in. at different life cycle, you have different needs; young/early career, mature/ household formation and career, prime years, nearing retirement and retirement.
Everyone knows that you have to have money to make more money. in order to make your money work for you , you have to have an investment planning. Do not be intimidated by the word investment, as a matter of fact, you have to appreciate the word investment and put in extra effort in learning how to have a good investment planning. Personally, I do not believe in short- term investment or short term investment gains as financial planning itself is a long term plan.
You also need to have a good tax planning so that you do not have to spend extra money on unnecessary taxes. An accountant can definitely give you this leverage.
The main gees of financial planning is retirement planning. Everyone will have to go through this phase of life and having a comfortable retirement years is very important. In Singapore, the government had implemented a compulsory savings just for retirement. If you are not living in a country whereby the government does not have a system for retirement, you really need to have good retirement planning. A certified financial planner will know the method to calculate how much you need to have for your retirement.
Estate planning is also very important. Although some may think that is a taboo, estate planning is a must have for anyone. The reason is very simple; you want to let your dependents inherit your wealth effectively without any extra expenses and rivalry. I urge everyone to have a good and updated financial plan because you will never know what lies in front of you.