I have started 2023 with a new mission – to get myself, my clients and my future clients even more financially organised. We have some cool tech, a new booking system, an online secure portal for financial modelling and a new communications plan.
What’s Your Plan for 2023?
By Peter Brooke
This article is published on: 3rd March 2023
My aim is to help you to become more financially confident throughout 2023 and beyond. I will endeavour to make everything as clear, concise and as interesting as possible – we are in this together!
What is Financial Planning?
Everyone will need some form of financial plan at some point in their lives – but WHY do you need it? And HOW do you do it?
WHY do you need a financial plan?
“people don’t plan to fail, but often fail to plan”
Budgeting for living costs, building up savings, planning for retirement or education, saving for future large expenses, buying property, protecting your family, leaving something for future generations… all of these are considered in a financial plan.
Then do all of this in a new country with a different language, different tax system and different rules and regulations and we can see that having a well thought-out plan in a language you fully understand could be worth its weight in gold!
In addition, for Brits living in Europe there are the added complexities of Brexit since you will now lose access to UK based advice and financial products.
HOW do you create a financial plan?
Fundamentally there are two easy questions to answer which give us the skeleton of the financial plan:
1. What do you earn, spend, owe and own? This is an audit of where you are today, financially.
2. What do you want? This is a list of your hopes and aspirations, let’s call them goals, for the future.
Common ‘goals’ include:
- Can we retire early?
- How much do we need to have to retire?
- Can we pay for our kids private or university education?
- Can we buy that house we want?
- Can we take that trip?
- Can we leave money for the family?
Combining these considerations allows us to create a ‘road map’ for the coming months, years and decades and helps you understand what compromises you might need to make today to achieve the things you want for the future.
You can then feel more confident that you are on the right path to future happiness and security totally aligned to your own personal hopes and aspirations.
HOW do I help you create your financial plan?
Here is a summary of the Spectrum process and how I, as your professional adviser, can help you through the journey of establishing a plan.
Your Spectrum Adviser – Peter Brooke
I have been in the personal finance industry since 1999 and based in France helping people like you since 2004.
I am a proud family man and love living in France; our two children, both now teenagers, were born in France and will soon be completing their schooling and will be off to university before we know it!
I am a partner and senior adviser in Europe’s largest expatriate financial advisory group; Spectrum have more than 50 advisers across Western Europe and due to our size have terms of business with some of the largest and strongest insurance and investment providers in the world; though we are independent of them.
I have a strong background in investment management and as such sit on the Spectrum Investment Management Committee which provides resources to all of our advisers, and their clients, across Europe.
I have a healthy passion for ethical & sustainable investing as a vital area of focus for the future of investing, our planet and society.