Pentad's Financial Planning Process
The Pentad Group believes that financial planning is
simply a process designed to help you achieve your lifestyle
objectives.
As with any successful process there are clearly defined steps,
which can be summarised as follows:
Step 1 – Understanding where you are right now
Before we can work out how best to achieve your lifestyle
objectives, we need to have a thorough understanding of your
‘starting point’. What are your assets; what do you owe; what is
your income; what income do you actually need; what do you know
about different types of investments; and, how comfortable are you
with them?
We will spend time with you in order to build up an accurate
picture of your current situation.
Step 2 – Where do you want to go?
Also fundamental to working out how best to achieve your
lifestyle objectives, is an understanding of where it is you want
to go; what are your lifestyle and financial objectives this next,
next year, and in ten years time. Most of us have a notion of what
we would like our future to look like. We can help turn these
notions into specific objectives.
Step 3 – What can stop you from getting to where you want to
go?
Having established where you are right now and where it is you
want to go, we will identify any issues that might prevent you from
achieving your objectives. Sometimes these issues can be resolved,
other times your objectives may need to be reviewed.
Step 4 – Your ‘Wealth Plan’
The above three steps form the basis of the ‘Wealth Plan’ that
we will then proceed to prepare for your consideration. Your Wealth
Plan will provide clear recommendations in terms of the specific
strategy, structure, and investments that will help you achieve
your lifestyle objectives.
Step 5 – Implementing your Wealth Plan
Having prepared your Wealth Plan, we will then present it to
you, stepping you through the key features and benefits of our
recommendations. If we have done our job properly your Wealth Plan
should capture the issues and considerations relevant to you, and
be one that you are comfortable in implementing. We will, of
course, be pleased to implement our recommendations, or assist you
in doing so.
Step 6 – Ensuring that everything continues to go according to
your Wealth Plan
Implementing your Wealth Plan is not the end of the process. It
is however, the ‘end of the beginning’. Over time, as your
circumstances and objectives change (and they will), we will review
how your overall strategy is ‘tracking’ in meeting your objectives,
and if necessary, recommend amendments to your overall strategy as
appropriate.
The following diagram illustrates the financial planning
process.
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