Personal Financial Planning The number one goal to financial freedom is through financial planning and money management. The first step in personal financial planning in to take control of your day-to-day financial affairs, this can easily be achieved by creating and following an income vs. Expense budget, you can get a free copy of an income vs. Expense budget by visiting http://creditcompare.co.za/freedownloads. Having full control over your spending will enable you to start saving money and invest in the future, but then again... saving money and investing in the future will not mean much if you don t have specific goals set up. The financial plan will give your personal insight with regards to your financial well being and you will be able to demonstrate a solid financial structure. Your will financial plan should be able to coordinate all your assets, liabilities, income; and putting it into perspective when compared to your goals and objectives. 1. You will need to identify and document your objectives 2. Break them down into short-term and long-term achievements 3. Finally, must evaluate your progress. Once the above have been met, you will need to educate yourself and thoroughly review your goals and progress to confirm your understanding and support of each objective. Credit Compare has taken the liberty of creating an example of a personal financial plan including some of the benefits. ----------------- // ----------------- Credit Compare Financial Planning free sample Prepared for: Prepared by: Date prepared: Last review date: [Full names here] Credit Compare [Date plan created] [Last review date]
Contents A. Disclaimer... 3 B. Personal Data... 3 1. Demographics... 3 2. Address... 3 3. Employment Details... 3 4. Dependants... 3 5. Notes... 3 C. Policies... 4 1. Life Policies... 4 2. Investments... 4 3. Other... 4 4. Notes... 4 D. Financial Planning Process... 4 5. Assess your current situation... 4 6. Identify your goals and objectives... 5 7. Identify Financial Problems... 5 8. Recommendations... 5 9. Implement Strategies... 5 10. Monitor and Review... 5 E. Goals and Objectives... 5 1. Maintain your standard of living... 5 2. Provide for 3 5 years of medical and education for your children... 5 3. Determine if your assets will be sufficient... 5 4. Maintain your standard of living in the event of financial emergencies... 5 5. Evaluate your life insurance needs to determine the amount and type of life insurance that is actually needed... 5 6. Preserve your estate for your heirs... 5 7. Pay off your mortgage and other debts... 5 8. Stay 1 step ahead of inflation... 5 9. Learn to invest and manage money more wisely... 5 10. Start your own business... 5 F. Cash flow... 6 1. Know where you stand... 6 2. Control... 6 3. Identify opportunities... 6 4. Extra money... 6 5. Identify discrepancies... 6 G. Investments... 6 H. Financial independence analysis (Retirement)... 6 1. Investment account distributions... 7 2. Pension/Social Security... 7
3. Retirement account distributions... 7 I. Wills... 8 J. Recommendations... 8 A. Disclaimer This report is based on assumptions and information provided by the [ ] family. Over time, these assumptions and information recorded in this report might change for certain and specific reasons which will also be recorded on the next review date. It is imperative that the financial plan must be reviewed on a regular basis and at the same time be updated in the case of any changes which may occur. B. Personal Data 1. Demographics Full Names Date of Birth ID numbers Contact Number Email Address 2. Address Address Line 1 Address Line 2 City Province Postal Code Country 3. Employment Details Employer Occupation Address Contact Numbers 4. Dependants Full Names Date of Birth ID number Address if applicable Contact numbers 5. Notes
C. Policies 1. Life Policies Policy Type Company Monthly Premium Coverage amount Contact Numbers 2. Investments Investment Type Company Monthly Contribution Amount Contact Numbers 3. Other Type Company Monthly Contribution Amount Contact Numbers 4. Notes D. Financial Planning Process 5. Assess your current situation Clarify your present situation by collecting and assessing all relevant financial data such as assets and liabilities, tax returns, insurance policies, will, pension, funeral plans, investments, etc.
6. Identify your goals and objectives Document all your goals and objectives, you need to identify you personal and financial goals including personal values and attitudes. These normally include providing for children s education, supporting family members, relieving immediate or emergency financial pressure 7. Identify Financial Problems Try and identify financial problem areas or barriers to achieving financial well-being. These areas normally include too little or too much insurance coverage (like short falls or paying too much on your insurance premiums). This can also be gambling issues, as much as some of don t like to admit that we might have a gambling problem, it s absolutely crucial to get help if gambling becomes uncontrollable, see http://creditcompare.co.za/freedownloads for a step-by-step guide for Dealing with gambling addiction. All financial problems must be identified before solutions can be applied. 8. Recommendations After listing all of the above, one will easily be able to spot recommendations and solutions. The length of the recommendations will vary, depending on the complexity of your situation listed above, but must be structured to meet your goals. 9. Implement Strategies Your financial plan will only work if the recommendations and solutions are put into action. You need to implement the right strategy for each recommendation and/or solution. Follow and keep to your strategized plan and seek professional help if need be. 10. Monitor and Review Monitor your finances very closely by referring to your personal budget and your proposed solutions (above) to assure your goals and objectives are met. Your financial situation and plan should be re-assessed at least once a year or whenever big changes have occurred. E. Goals and Objectives You will need to determine what your goals and objectives are, look at the bigger picture and concentrate on you and your children s future in terms of financial well-being, education, medical, etc. below are a few examples of what needs to be taken into account when noting down your goals and objectives. 1. Maintain your standard of living 2. Provide for 3 5 years of medical and education for your children 3. Determine if your assets will be sufficient 4. Maintain your standard of living in the event of financial emergencies 5. Evaluate your life insurance needs to determine the amount and type of life insurance that is actually needed 6. Preserve your estate for your heirs 7. Pay off your mortgage and other debts 8. Stay 1 step ahead of inflation 9. Learn to invest and manage money more wisely 10. Start your own business
F. Cash flow Your budget comes once again into play; the cash flow section examines your income being generated versus expenses. As per your budget, the first step is to look at your income sources and determine how the income is utilised. A cash flow statement provides your with the following benefits: 1. Know where you stand Just like your budget, a cash flow statement allows you to know exactly where you stand with your finances. It also indicates your ability to save and invest and highlight any problem areas. 2. Control Maintaining your budget will allow you to decide exactly what is going to happen to your hard-earned money and when. 3. Identify opportunities Knowing the exact state of your personal monetary affair and being in control of them, allows you to take advantage of opportunities that you might have missed. 4. Extra money Your budget will point out if extra money will be available, extra money can be put in good use by transferring it into your savings account or illuminating high interest debt (paying more towards that account) 5. Identify discrepancies You will be able to see discrepancies when following your budget which will help you to illuminate it before it occurs and you can take appropriate steps to prevent loss or negative impacts of any kind. Refer to your income and expense budget for figures and cash flow or download it at http://creditcompare.co.za/freedownloads G. Investments The investment section examines how various rates or return will affect your ability to accomplish the goals and objectives set out at the beginning of the recommendations. Your investment guidelines are the road map for how you will invest over your lifetime. These guidelines and constraints explain the ways in which you will invest differently at different phases in your life. Young investors are typically concerned with accumulating and increasing wealth. As investors age, they become more concerned with preserving their investments and wealth. As investors retire, they become more concerned with having investments that can be used as a source of income, so income-producing assets become more important to them. The determination of which of these goals is important to you will depend on where you are in your financial life cycle. Generally, most individuals have three stages of their financial life cycle. Most investors who are younger than age fifty-five are in stage one, or capital accumulation and growth. Investors who are approaching retirement are typically in stage two, where the main goal is investment preservation, or maintaining the value of investments. Investors who have retired are typically in stage three, where their main concern is income generation, or utilizing the assets that have been saved to provide income during retirement. Your investment guidelines should provide you with a general road map for investing money at different stages of your financial life cycle. These guidelines should integrate all of your financial goals to give you a complete financial perspective. H. Financial independence analysis (Retirement) The investment section examines how various rates or return will affect your ability to In order to determine whether there is adequate income and capital to fund your retirement, a number of factors must be evaluated. Income needed for basic living expenses and the number of years required.
Income available from pensions and other sources. Extraordinary income or expense items that will affect your retirement capital. Existing savings, investment, and retirement funds, as well as annual additions to the accounts. The effect of inflation on income and expenses. The rate of return you are able to earn on your accounts. The effect of income taxes on your income sources and accounts. In disbursing assets to satisfy income needs, assets are disbursed in the following order: 1. Investment account distributions 2. Pension/Social Security 3. Retirement account distributions The following numbers are outlined year-by-year in the Retirement section of the analysis. The first set of number represents the Retirement Capital Projection page and the second set of numbers is listed on the Net worth report. The numbers represent the beginning year account values after all expenses have been paid from the prior year. Financial Analysis: Age 55: = R 1,875,542 Age 60: = R 2,613,120 Age 65 = R 2,501,008 Age 70 = R 1,897,274 Age 75 = R 923,615 Age 80+ = R 0 Alternative Analysis: Age 55: = R 3,192,613 Age 60: = R 3,342,341 Age 65 = R 3,828,590 Age 70 = R 4,525,530 Age 75 = R 5,293,203 Age 80 = R 6,351,462 Age 85 = R 7,503,264 Age 90 = R 8,553,923
Age 95 = R 9,338,904 Alternative Analysis: net worth at age 65 equals R 5,144,021. I. Wills Wills should be updated periodically as your personal situation changes and as estate tax laws change. The general information that follows may assist you in the preparation of your Will. A properly drafted Will ensures that your estates will be distributed as you so choose. At the same time, the cost of probating the estate can be reduced. If you die without a Will, the state statutes determine how your estate will be disbursed. The way that the state may disburse your estate may not be in the manner that you would desire. A Will can also address your desires regarding life support, directives to physicians, and any donor-related objectives that you may have. Due to the changes in the estate tax laws, it is recommended that your Will be updated to reflect these changes so that it will achieve your objectives and reduce estate shrinkage. An attorney that is knowledgeable and experienced in this area can be helpful in explaining the options that are available to you or simply speak to your bank. J. Recommendations There are many variables that will affect the results that are illustrated, such as actual rate of return that is received and annual expenses. The farther out you project, the less accurate the numbers become. The analysis does, however, provide an example of what could happen in the future based on a set of predefined variables. As a result of the preceding analysis, several steps could be taken to maximize your financial potential, as follows but not limited to: Review assumptions used in analyses. Eliminate all liabilities excluding the mortgage on the residence. Invest a portion of the assets currently in savings into equities. At retirement consolidated the nine equity accounts into three accounts. Roth IRAs and the variable annuity are not included in the consolidation. Complete an analysis on the corporate bond portfolio to determine the most appropriate course of action. For example, what interest rate are the corporate bonds paying and are the bonds currently trading above or below their par value. Reposition government bonds into equities. Sell stocks immediately after stock options are exercised. Examine limits of coverage on property and casualty policies. Review estate tax analysis and the effect that the life insurance policies have on your potential estate tax liability. Maintain current disability coverage until retirement.
Update your financial plan periodically The information provided above is only a sample/guideline provided by Credit Compare and can be utilized for personal use, members are still recommended to discuss financial plans with their advisors or banking societies.