Financial planning: the big picture

Throughout your lifetime, you’ll reach key milestones such as buying a new home, having a family, building a business and, of course, retiring. And while your goals are about much more than money, they are often associated with expenses for which you need to save – and plan.

Your goals of building and preserving wealth, enjoying a comfortable retirement and leaving a legacy are dependent on how well your financial matters are managed.

Financial planning helps you create a vision for your life, set goals and implement strategies designed to help you reach your goals. Just like your life, your financial plan should be specific to you and consider your individual needs.

A comprehensive financial plan outlines the tactics to help you reach your goals – short-term goals and long-term goals. The plan will show you how your goals are related, like how saving for a child’s college expenses may affect your ability to save for retirement, and can help you balance competing priorities. And it will make it easier to pivot when something unexpected comes along.

Following a financial plan gives you a sense of control.

Tailored strategies

Financial planning goes beyond just managing your investments. Certainly, your portfolio needs to fit your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon, but a comprehensive financial plan considers all aspects of your financial life all the way through and beyond retirement.

That means your plan will evolve with your life. While it’s good to review your plan at least once a year to make sure it’s still relevant to your financial situation and accurately reflects your goals, there are several events that could trigger a review:

• A change to your goals or time horizons
• A life-changing event, such as marriage, divorce, birth of a child, death of a family member, health problem or job change
• Immediate financial planning needs, including drafting a will, managing a distribution from a retirement account or paying long-term care expenses
• A substantial increase or decrease in your income or expenses
• Tax law changes that will affect you

A personal relationship

Establishing a relationship with a trusted financial advisor can bring clarity to your financial future, simplify your financial life and bring a sense of confidence regarding your investment matters. By getting to know you, your aspirations and the complexities of your life, an advisor can be ready to support you at every transition and turning point you encounter.

Your advisor can also serve as your sounding board and voice of reason, guiding you in making prudent financial decisions and helping you avoid missteps that could harm your long-term progress.

Your advisor should have access to a sophisticated suite of strategies and services designed to address even the most complex financial needs. They can leverage the insights of professionals from research analysts and investment strategists to specialists in trust and estate planning, charitable giving strategies, cash and lending solutions*, insurance protection, business services and more.

Your advisor can also help you identify appropriate financial strategies while collaborating with your tax and legal professionals – designed for a seamless approach to managing and preserving wealth. Recommendations will be based on your needs, values, goals and timeframes.

The professional support provided by an advisor can help you navigate even your most complex financial needs while freeing you to spend time on the things – and the people – that matter most to you.

Every investor’s situation is unique and you should consider your investment objectives, risks and costs before making any investment. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected, including diversification and asset allocation. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any individual security or any combination of securities. Contact your advisor regarding your particular situation before making any investment decision.

*Banking and lending solutions provided by Raymond James Bank. Raymond James Bank, member FDIC, affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

This material has been created by Raymond James for use by its financial advisors.