What is the Difference Between Financial Planning & Financial Advice?
What is the Difference Between Financial Planning & Financial Advice?
When it comes to managing your money, choosing the right financial service is key. These days, there’s plenty of information out there about the financial sector, but not a lot of clarity. Knowing your financial planner from your financial advisor will help you decide what qualities to look for and what to expect from the process. So, what’s the difference?
A planner will offer advice and recommendations as part of their integrated, holistic financial strategy, but an advisor will not usually create a long term life plan for your money. So, you could say a financial planner is a highly specialised type of financial advisor. Both can be hugely beneficial and help you figure out your finances, but one may be more useful to your situation than the other.
At Hansford Bell, we do financial planning differently. We’re all about delivering great value solutions that rationalise finances and safeguard futures. We don’t get distracted by data and numbers, but put our clients at the front and centre of everything we do.
If you’re confused about financial planning and advice, you don’t have to be. Our team have put together this handy article to give you all the facts.
Financial Planning vs. Financial Advice.
A financial advisor is a broad description for a range of financial professionals. People might enlist the help of a financial advisor to help them answer a specific question, solve an issue in one aspect of their financial life or help them decide on a product. Often, an advisor will specialise in a particular field such as mortgage and finance or life and health insurance.
Financial planners take a more proactive approach, and the relationship tends to be a long term one. People are at the heart of the process, with programmes and strategies created with personal and financial life goals in mind. Basically, financial planning helps you decide on your destination, and plot the best route to get there.
It is worth noting, however, that there are some financial advisers who give holistic financial advice, including financial planning services.
What Does a Financial Planner Do?
Financial planning takes a holistic approach to your money, ensuring you can maintain your chosen lifestyle and secure your assets for the future. The process is simple: you and your planner will help you define your objectives, they will go away to research, forecast, and analyse, then come back with a tailored financial plan that works for you. Next? They put the plan into action, and check up regularly to make sure it’s doing the job.
Your planner will take in the whole picture of your finances, including your lifetime cash-flow forecast and other aspects of your current situation to craft a bespoke roadmap to your future goals. Importantly, a good financial planner forges a long lasting relationship, continually monitoring progress to make sure the plan stays relevant.
Remember, choosing the right financial planner is key, because the title is not regulated. Opt for a firm that is Chartered and has years of expertise and experience helping clients achieve their goals. A firm like Hansford Bell, for instance!
What Does a Financial Advisor Do?
A financial advisor will provide short term guidance to clients who need help with specific aspects of their finances. This might include choosing a financial product like insurance or the right mortgage for them, or figuring out how to navigate an unforeseen life and wealth change. Essentially, financial advice focuses on a single element of your finances and will not necessarily lead to a lasting relationship.
The best financial advisors will give it to you straight, with simple, easy to understand solutions and expert tips. At Hansford Bell, we don’t do complicated, helping our clients cut through the noise with friendly, no-nonsense guidance on anything from later life lending to wealth management!
Why is Financial Planning Important?
A comprehensive strategy for achieving your life goals, financial planning can take the stress out of managing your assets. There are so many advantages to working with a specialist, we couldn’t possibly list them all! Here are a few of the best:
Organise Your Finances
Everyone’s guilty of putting boring things off; life always gets in the way, and no one (except us!) enjoys spending time on finances. Working with a professional financial service can boost and streamline your affairs with minimal hassle.
Family Security
No one likes to think about it, but planning for the end is vital. Your financial planner can help you maximise your wealth, so that you can increase your assets and guarantee your family’s financial security.
Holistic Approach
Financial life planning involves looking into all aspects of your lifestyle, ambitions and existing financial arrangements and integrating everything into one bespoke plan. Because of this, it’s more closely aligned with your hopes and values, and more likely to result in the future you want.
Reinforce Wealth Against the Unknown
In life, there are always unforeseen events and changes that can put your wealth at risk. By putting a tailored financial plan in place, you can strengthen your estate and assets.
Free Time
Instead of fretting about finance, you can spend more time doing the things you love whether that’s enjoying family life, working or pursuing your hobbies.
Planning for Retirement
Financial planning ensures you take steps early on to make your retirement dreams come true. This way, instead of waiting to see what will happen, you can work with a professional to engineer your ideal lifestyle in later life.
Regular Review & Monitoring
Financial planners tend to be a friendly bunch. They keep in touch with you, checking up on progress and making any alterations to your plan as and when necessary. As we said earlier, this is a lasting relationship, all about achieving a series of long term goals.
At Hansford Bell, we’re not afraid of commitment. If you’re looking for a team of dedicated financial specialists to work hard for your finances, we’re ready to dedicate ourselves to you!
A Fresh Approach to Financial Planning and Advice.
Hansford Bell aren’t your average team of financial specialists. We take the time to get to know our clients and help them realise what they want from their life, whether that’s a personal ambition or a financial goal.
Our planners are highly experienced and know the industry inside-out. We combine simplified, straight-forward tips and guidance with cutting-edge technology and a comprehensive understanding of your situation. We focus on your finances, so you can focus on living your life.
Want to know more? Talk to us today and we can start making that dream future a reality!
