What does a Financial Planner do?
A Financial Planner helps you put your financial life in order. He or she does this in the following ways:
- by helping you organize things,
- identify financial goals,
- determine if those goals are realistic, and then
- shows you ways to potentially accomplish those goals.
Organizing things can be a simple as gathering all your important documents, such as your Birth Certificate, Social Security card, Marriage Certificate, Passport, Will, anything that is an important document, and putting them in a safe and known location. This is done so that when you need one of these, you know where to go.
Organizing also means making sure things are set up the way you want today and will tomorrow.
Do you have a Will? Do you know where it is? Is it current?
How about an IRA? Are the beneficiaries you named when you opened the account the ones you want today?
Identifying goals is the process of determining what you want to accomplish with your money in the future. Do you want to buy a house? Send your kids to college? Do you want to retire? Do you want to retire earlier than everyone else?
All of these are goals that can be identified in discussions with a Financial Planner, then quantified as to how much will be required and when that amount will be needed. This is the process that determines if your desires can be attained.
The last part is mapping out a plan to reach those goals. That involves variables such as how much money you have now, how much money you can add to what you currently have saved, how much time you have until the target goal is desired to reached, and how to invest it to reach that goal in the time frame available (hint: the longer you have the better your chances are, so start early!).
All of the above is pretty common from one Financial Planner to another. The one key service a Financial Planner can do beyond the above noted tasks is to inspire you. If you don’t know what money can do for your life, your level of motivation regarding accumulation of wealth is limited. But when you see the power of money and how it can improve your life and your outlook on things, you become motivated towards saving and investing. And that has a big affect on your potential success.
Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. William R. Pintaric & Associates and Securities America are separate entities.
Written by David Pintaric.
Securities America and its advisors do not provide tax advice. Please consult with your tax professional regarding your individual tax situation.