No matter your stage of life, a Golden Age Advisory adviser can provide guidance and the triggers we typically see are:

Financial Planning is an Ongoing Process

The elements of personal finance have the tendency to change, some more than others. A minor change in one of these elements (budgets, investments, taxation, legislation, financial risks, estate plan, etc.) can significantly impact your ability to meet your financial planning and life goals.

To ensure that minor changes in your life and your financial environment are incorporated into your financial plan, it's recommended to review and revise your plan at least annually. In the best-case scenario, a financial plan would be revised upon realising that some facts or assumptions in your financial plan have changed.

An annual review (or bi-annually in some cases) will increase the possibility of fulfilling your financial goals by allowing you to incorporate any personal or economic changes in your financial plan.

A review also allows you to analyse your individual investments and determine if they are worth keeping. For example, if you have invested in equities, then it would be prudent to check if any corporate actions have occurred or if the current standing and potential of a stock or equity managed fund in your portfolio has changed from time to time. It could be possible that a stock or equity managed fund may not be performing well; and in the case of managed funds, there could be a change in its management, investment objective or style, which no longer meets your purpose of investment.

Golden Age Advisory believes that change is inevitable, and procrastination is the enemy of wealth. It is vital for you to recognise that merely creating a financial plan is not enough. Timely reviews are imperative if you endeavor to meet your financial goals.

The frequency and scope of regular reviews will be agreed with you and conducted to ensure your plan is on track or adjusted to suit your changing circumstance.

Once you have agreed to your plan, it can then be implemented. Your Golden Age Advisory adviser will assist you every step of the way to ensure that your financial plan is implemented with a minimum of fuss.

Monitor and Review these Financial Planning Elements

Cash Flow and Budget - Our budgets have the tendency to change over time. Monitoring your financial plan ensures that income and expenses haven’t changed enough to jeopardize your success. This also includes reviewing debt levels and the trends of other liabilities. It’s a good idea to consistently monitor the use of credit cards and other lines of consumer credit.

Change in tax status - From the time you constructed your financial plan, there could have been change(s) in the income tax laws, other legislation or the amount of income you earn. This might result in you falling into a different tax bracket and thus paying tax at a higher or lower rate. In such circumstances, you will need to revise your financial plans to plan your investments and expenses efficiently to reduce the tax liability. For example, if you fall in the highest tax bracket currently, then it would be sensible to undertake your tax-planning activity prudently in order to optimally save tax, which enables you to plan for your financial goals efficiently. Remember; when you are aiming to save tax, it is important to recognise that tax planning goes beyond the Income Tax Act and it is important to take benefit of the other strategies as well, to optimally save tax.

Risk Management and Insurance - Reviewing your risk management strategy ensures that your current insurance coverage is adequate. Changes in lifestyle, Income, and other financial planning elements can affect whether you have the right coverage. It’s also a good idea to shop around for new insurance deals occasionally. This can help with new product innovation or lower your expenses.

Savings and Investments - Financial markets are in a constant state of flux. Assumptions, such as expected investment returns, have a huge impact on retirement planning and the accomplishment of our other goals.

To ensure that your savings and investments are performing well (relative to the broad market) you may need to change your asset allocation, increase liquidity through asset sales or increase your savings rate.

Monitoring a financial plan will help ensure that changes in personal circumstances, financial markets and our lives, in general, will not impact our ability to reach our financial goals. Financial plans are “living documents” that should be revised as often as necessary to remain relevant.