Early in 2017 we reminded everyone that a New Year is a great time to review your financial affairs and check how everything is working for you. But what does that really mean?

Is it just a case of sitting at home one night chewing on a pencil and adding up what you have in the bank, your ISAs and pension and what equity you have in your house once the mortgage is taken in account?

That can be a start, but proper financial planning is about much more than that. For sure the starting point is to look at where you are now, and what better time to reflect on this than early in the year when we are full of good intentions and determined to do better than we did last year.

Once you have sorted out where you are now you need to look at other issues. The first of these is to establish where you are trying to get to. What do you really want to achieve with your life? When do you want to retire and how much of an income will you need when you get to retirement. Where will you want to live in retirement? Do you want to have a holiday home in Spain, Portugal or Florida to disappear to when the winter months arrive?

Once you know where you are, and where you are trying to get to the only thing you need is a plan that will take you from here to there.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Or is it?

If you do it the correct way and let professional advisers help you it can be so much easier than doing your own thing. You might need help in establishing exactly where you are at the moment - how much is in your pension (or pensions), how well have they performed in the past and are they on target to give you a comfortable retirement?

You might have an idea of where you are planning to end up but it is always helpful to talk through your plans with someone who has helped hundreds of others in similar situations.

This is where we come in – providing help and assistance in a friendly professional manner – ensuring the plan that is put together for you is tax efficient, takes account of the amount of risk you are prepared to take with your money (even if that is none!), and ensuring money is left to your family tax efficiently in the event of anything happening to you.

Why don’t you make 2017 the year you resolve to fully update your financial affairs with our help.

Simply call on 0141 572 1340 or email us to get an free initial consultation with no obligation appointment set up.   You can also find more details on what areas we focus on depending on your stage of life here.