In our last post in our ongoing series, Your 4 Futures, we took a closer look at one of our three foundations, Plan, and its three supports, Data, Structure, and Review. With these three supports in place, our clients find greater confidence, wealth, and freedom in their finances.
But these are only three of the nine supports. In this post, we’ll zoom in on the Secure side of our Blueprinting Your Financial Future Model.
And if you missed the rest of the series, you can find the previous posts here:
Post 1: Your 4 Financial Futures – Which Line are You On?Post 2: When Is Now Going To Be The Right Time To Jump Retirement Lines?Post 3: Symptoms and Signs of Retirement Overwhelm and Apprehension.Post 4: What Retirement Contentment Looks Like – and Why It’s So DangerousPost 5: Blueprinting Your Financial Future ModelPost 6: The 9 Supports of the Blueprinting Your Financial Future Model: Plan
Are You Secure?
Before we dive into Secure, grab your worksheet, or if you don’t have one grab it here. What we want you do to is to score yourself a 1, 2, or 3 based on the options below. Pick whatever choice you feel most closely matches your own situation.
On the secure side of the Blueprinting Your Financial Future Model we find that this foundation has three supports.
Assess
The first support under secure is assess. This support is really about risk. Not just about insurance, risk also relates to your assets, your job, etc.
Do you know the significant risks that might derail your finances over time?
I’m blissfully unaware
I think I’ve got it covered, but I worry I missed something
I’m totally aware of all my risks, even the ones that could blindside me
Where do you fall? Go ahead and write that number in your worksheet.
Why is assess so important?
Growing your money and planning for retirement is incomplete without making sure that you know all your risks, and this is critical to having you tied on and feeling secure. This is why we do a Personalized Risk Assessment with all our clients.
Control
Once we assess risk, we want to put controls in place. You not only need to tracking your saving and spending, but also make adjustments as you go. And if you’re married or partnered up, this is something you need to talk about.
Do you know where all your money goes?
I don’t know how much I’m spending and/or saving
I have a pretty good idea of what I’m spending and saving but I don’t know where I’m supposed to be
I know where every penny goes and how much progress I’m making with my saving
Where do you fall? Go ahead and write that number in your worksheet.
Why is control so important?
Being in control of your finances is about monitoring your money, saving and spending, and knowing exactly where everything is all going. In this case, we have a Personal Financial Website to show you were every penny goes.
Protect
And then, the last thing that really gets you secure is protect. This is about taking the awareness you’ve gained in the other supports and taking action and putting measures in place, specific protections.
When thinking about insurance, investments, and estate planning, how well do you feel you are protected for your short-term and long-term financial future?
I feel my family is exposed
I’m not sure. I feel insecure
I am well protected, because I know my insurance, investments, and estate plan are working through every stage
Where do you fall? Go ahead and write that number in your worksheet.
Why is protect so important?
We put measures into place to guard against risk at every stage of your financial plan, and there are conscious and deliberate measures that can be put in place. This is why our Future Proofing Tactics are so important, so you can move from the unsure side to bullet proof.
So, by now, we have real clarity about where you're trying to go to and how we're going to stay on top of that in terms of reviewing, and we have you tied on and secure, not teetering, on the ledge, looking backwards. And that’s a pretty good feeling.
Three Supports for a Strong Foundation
With Assess, Control, and Protect in place, you can have a sense of security that can give you more confidence, wealth, and freedom in your finances. In our next post we'll dive into the final foundation, Invest. You can find that post here.
If you’d like to see what might be possible for you, then we should get on the phone and talk. Don’t worry, the first call is less than 15 minutes and there’s no charge.
In that time we’ll…
Look at your savings, your goals, and when you want to achieve them by.
See what’s possible for you in terms of your plan, security, and growth.
Look at your current situation, how much you’re saving, where you’re saving it, and how much you want to spend.
Find out what’s working and what’s not, and what you’ve tried so far.
We’ll also identify the number one thing that’s holding you back from confidence, freedom, and wealth. Then, you’ll get a three-step action plan to get you even more growth, clarity, and security faster than you ever dreamed was possible.