What can I expect from my financial advisor?

What can I expect from my financial advisor?

Have you decided to seek advice from a financial planner but you’re not sure what to expect? The following information provides an outline of our financial planning process and what you can expect from Ulton’s experienced and trusted Wealth Management team.

There are six key steps to the financial planning process INFOGRAPHIC_The way our wealth managers operate_v2-01

1. Identify goals and objectives

In our initial appointment we will ask you about yourself and your current financial situation but more importantly we will try to identify what it is that you want out of life.
Outlining what you would like to achieve in life can be a daunting task, however Ulton’s Wealth Management team specialise in empowering our clients to make positive financial decisions, based on their goals. Identifying your goals and revealing how you would like your life to look in the next 5, 10 or 20 years’ time will set the objectives that we will strive to help you achieve.

In preparation for your initial meeting, think about your goals in relation to the following questions:

What do I really want to achieve in life?
When do I want to reach my goals by?
Why are these goals important?

A key part of our role is to spend time understanding your family and work commitments, your dreams and lifestyle aspirations, then transforming them into SMART goals - which means...

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant and

Time based

This will allow you to track your progress towards your objectives in a meaningful manner.

2. Capture information

Once we have identified your lifestyle aspirations, the next step involves piecing together all the information to show a clear picture of your current situation. We will capture this by understanding what you own and what you owe. A snapshot of your income, expenses, bills, assets and liabilities (credit card, personal loan and home loan) is an essential step in the financial planning process. This step is also likely to
include items such as your Will or your Enduring Power of Attorney, any personal
insurances as well as a questionnaire to identify your investor profile. This information will become the foundation to your financial success.

3. Analyse and develop a tailored plan

Every financial decision impacts your future wealth position, therefore a tailored financial plan plays a pivotal role in assisting you to achieve your desired financial future. We tailor our advice to meet the needs and goals for each stage of life. We
conduct research and analyse the wide variety of options available to you. This will give you peace of mind knowing our recommendations are in your best interest and the right fit for your particular circumstances. During our analysis we may contact you to provide further clarity on information, or to discuss the findings of our investigations. We will not make unnecessary changes to your existing structures.
Our research will always consider whether your current products (investments or insurance policies etc.) and structures will continue to be appropriate for your
circumstances moving forward. Importantly, you will have confidence knowing the
strategies in place are doing what you need them to do, to get you where you want to be.

4. Present recommendations

Once we have assessed your options we will meet with you and present what we consider to be a well-devised plan to help you achieve your objectives. Within the “Statement of Advice” that we’ll provide to you, we will explain the reasoning behind our recommendations, as well as the options that we disregarded. We want to ensure that you understand the strategies underpinning your financial future and why we believe they are the best fit for you. Our aim is to give you all the information that you
need to make an educated and informed decision about your financial options. We’ll encourage you to read through our recommendations and take some time to absorb
them. We aim to give you confidence that our recommendations will help you achieve what you want out of life.

5. Implement plan

Once you’ve agreed that the recommendations are an appropriate fit for you, we will
begin to put those plans in place. This may involve preparing documentation to provide to accountants, financial institutions, insurers, employers, legal practitioners,
superannuation funds and other relevant parties. We will monitor the implementation of the recommendations along the way and provide you with weekly updates. Once the plan is in place we will meet with you to confirm that your path to financial freedom is set. Once implemented you should have peace of mind knowing you are doing everything you need to do to get you where you want to be in your life.

6. Monitor and review

Reviewing and monitoring the progress of your financial plan is an important and ongoing step in your planning journey. Life is unpredictable and can present you with
unexpected events so it makes sense to review your circumstances on a regular basis. Many of our clients meet with us regularly to discuss what’s new in their world and to ensure their goals are still in line with what they want for their future. We also want to ensure you are reaching your milestones along the way. This process allows for modifications to the plan to be taken into account. It also ensures that changes in laws or regulations can be assessed on an individual basis as these have the
potential to affect your plans. If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it
is to always be prepared and to keep reviewing the world around us otherwise we risk being left behind.

For more information on our wealth management services or to make an appointment with one of our expert Wealth Advisors please, get in touch with the Ulton Wealth Management team today.

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Written by Christine Guy

21 Mar 2024

Wealth Management

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