Your financial plan is a roadmap to help you manage your wealth now and in the future. By following the strategy we help you create, you can build resources and work towards your long-term financial aims.
However, life is rarely straightforward and there are many different factors that might affect your financial plan. For instance, changes to the cost of living might diminish your ability to save, and market volatility could make it more difficult to grow your wealth.
Additionally, your own priorities and aims could change as you move through life, especially when you stop playing rugby and transition to a new career.
All this change and unpredictability means that it is important for us to monitor your progress and check that you are still on track to meet your aspirations.
Here are five ways we can achieve this.
1. Updating your financial plan regularly
Your financial plan is built around your aims in life. As such, one of the most effective ways we can make sure you are on track to meet your aspirations is to update your financial plan regularly.
When we do this, we will discuss your lifestyle and hopes for the future, to see if your priorities have shifted. We can also consider changes to your circumstances such as signing a contract with a new club, moving home, or expanding your family.
This means we can check that your financial plan is still supporting your ideal lifestyle now and in the future.
2. Conducting annual review meetings
Once your financial plan is in place, we will continually monitor it to see whether you are still on track to meet your aspirations or if you need to make any changes.
Your annual review meetings are the perfect opportunity for us to do this.
When we meet, we can discuss potential challenges such as high inflation or periods of market volatility, which may affect you. Often, we only need to reassure you that everything is still progressing as planned, despite these short-term hurdles.
However, in some cases, we might suggest potential changes to your strategy such as reviewing your investment portfolio or increasing pension contributions to ensure you can still meet your aims.
You can also use your annual review meeting to update us about any changes to your circumstances such as ending your professional playing career, or purchasing a new home, for example.
That said, these meetings are not the only opportunity you have to connect with us and if anything significant happens between reviews, you can always let us know. That way, we can respond quickly and keep your financial plan on track.
3. Using cashflow forecasts to inform your decisions
Nobody can predict the future, which makes it difficult to know if your financial decisions will lead to the desired outcomes in later life.
Fortunately, we can use cashflow planning to give you a relatively good idea of how your actions now will affect your financial position in the future.
This software allows us to put in details about your:
- Current and estimated income
- Regular outgoings
- Planned expenses
- The value of your assets including property, investments, and pensions.
You will then receive a forecast about your future wealth. By changing parameters, we can see what the effect of certain decisions would be. For instance, we might adjust your pension contributions and see how this would influence the size of your retirement pot in the future.
Cashflow forecasts also highlight any potential problems ahead of time. This means you will know if you are on track to meet your aspirations or if you perhaps need to increase contributions to your savings and investments.
Additionally, we can model various situations and see how they would affect your wealth. For example, how will your earnings change when you retire from playing, and what affect will this have on your retirement savings?
These cashflow forecasts give you the ability to make informed decisions with confidence, knowing you are still able to achieve your financial aims.
4. Building a tailored investment strategy
Your investment strategy is an important part of your financial plan because it allows you to potentially grow your wealth. This means you may be more likely to achieve your financial objectives in the future.
Investing could be especially important for a professional rugby player as it allows you to take advantage of your advanced earning potential while you are playing. Consequently, you may be in a stronger financial position when you hang your boots up.
When setting up your financial plan, we will discuss your:
- Attitude to risk
- How much wealth you can afford to lose
- Your overall investment aims.
Using this information, we can create a tailored investment strategy that helps you work towards your aspirations.
As time goes on, we will continually review your investment portfolio to see if it is still suitable. In some cases, we may make adjustments.
For instance, as you approach retirement and plan to start drawing an income from your portfolio, we might move your wealth into investments with a lower risk profile.
By monitoring your investments in this way, we can ensure that your portfolio is still working efficiently.
5. Planning for your second career
During your rugby career, your financial plan may focus on saving and investing so you can build wealth for the future. However, it is important to recognise that you will eventually retire from playing and this could mean your earnings change significantly.
If you do not plan for this eventuality, it could be difficult to maintain financial stability and achieve your future aspirations.
We can support you here by helping you build wealth during your rugby career, so you are in a strong financial position as you make the transition to the next phase of life.
This means you can comfortably afford to pay your living expenses while you establish a second career and start earning an income again. Additionally, we can help you manage the financial side of your second career. For example, we might discuss how you could fund a new business venture.
Ultimately, this means you can continue working towards your financial aims while you transition between careers.
Get in touch
If you require support with any area of your financial plan, please do get in touch with DBL Asset Management today.
Email enquiries@dbl-am.com or call 01625 529 499 to speak to us today.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate estate planning, cashflow planning, tax planning, Lasting Powers of Attorney, or will writing.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available.
The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.