You may be wondering what happens when we arrange to meet you for the first time.
What do you gain? How much time does it take? What must you prepare / be prepared for? Is it all worth your time?
The objective of this meeting is simply to conduct a financial needs review cum risk analysis for you. So what do all this jargon mean?
After getting to know you as a person, and ascertaining mutual trust and liking, we go ahead to a process which has a lot in common with personal life coaching.
We begin with an understanding and articulation of your goals, dreams, priorities, concerns and fears - which influence your life decisions, big and small, on a daily basis.
Goals could include:
- having enough money for children's education, especially in foreign universities
- having enough money to retire comfortably for life
- funding dream vacations, including adventure trips
- fulfilling donations to various charitable causes
- owning one or more properties, like beach houses, in different parts of the world
- buying that fancy car you always loved
- having an art collection
- having the time, money and health to engage in a variety of courses to enhance one's knowledge
- being able to give gifts any time to people we love
The fears that people have could include:
- losing a job
- losing a loved one - especially if we are financially or emotionally dependent on them as well
- crippling business losses
- loss of time or abilities due to accidents or illnesses
- loss of time due to treatment, recovery and cure from unforeseen events
- running out of money during golden years
- medical costs for ourselves or our dependents wiping out savings
This process on its own is very powerful because of the self revelations that the client has. In many instance, clients find answers to questions they had but were unable to express. In some cases, they see themselves altering the very direction of their lives.
Once the clients aspirations are documented, it is the professional planner's job to take down all the relevant financial details of the client that affect the client's chances of life success.
These details include:
- liquid as well as tangible assets
- liabilities including contingent or one-off expenses, guarantorship
- income sources, sometimes supported by a cashflow projection especially for entrepreneurs
- expenses annualized and considering foreseen increases/decreases
An important step is to determine your investment risk profile which is deduced using a short multiple choice questionnaire. Last but not the least, we will also take down your various insurance plans and other risk management/wealth protection mechanisms in place.
As professional planners, we will also show you examples of how investments can be grown using proven strategies, back testing, numerical proof on real live data and case studies of other clients. We would also have a short education session which addresses doubts you may have. Finally, we will run through some relevant newspaper reports collated over the last several months that you may find enlightening.
What you would gain is an INSTANTANEOUS report of the various details have been revealed through the fact find process. This colourful multi page report would be of valuable need and systematic overview of your personal financial landscape.
Last but not the least would be some vital tips and general but relevant recommendations as well as some key results/findings. The full detailed recommendation will be reviewed to the client in the subsequent meeting after a thorough analysis and comparison of solutions that best suit the client's needs.
