Personal Financial Planning
Helping you to protect your current lifestyle for today, tomorrow and into your retirement.
No matter at what stage we are in life, we all need a financial plan to ensure we reach our financial goals. At SurePlan Financial, we always start with an initial complimentary consultation to establish your current financial position and to discuss what you would like to achieve financially in future.
We will help you establish what your financial goals are. It may be that you are looking for help only in one area such as planning your retirement or insuring your income, or if you are buying a house you may need mortgage and financial protection advice. Or, on the other hand, you may require a full financial plan looking at several areas and financial goals for your future.
During the initial consultation, whilst we are establishing your financial goals, we will also find out about you, your family, your finances and any policies you may already have. We will then work on a financial plan specifically for you. No two people are the same and everyone’s financial situation and their plans for the future are unique, so therefore your plan will be as unique as you are.
We will ensure that you understand and are happy with the plans being proposed. It is important that you understand and agree with the plan and the process that will help you achieve your financial goal or goals. As part of the plan, we can show you, using future cashflow modelling, the likely impact of the financial planning decisions you are making.
Once the plan is started, it then needs to be reviewed regularly – we suggest at least annually or if there is a change in your circumstances. So, the financial planning process is an ongoing journey between you and SurePlan Financial.
Financial Protection
Savings & Investments
Retirement Planning
Financial Protection
Having a protection plan is one of the most important aspects of financial planning, its purpose is to protect you and your loved ones if something unexpected happens. Whilst not an easy subject to consider, it is extremely necessary and will provide you with comfort in knowing you can protect your lifestyle, your home, your loved ones against an unforeseen event. A protection plan through SurePlan Financial starts with you, what you need and what your priorities are. We will consider two aspects of protection, a death benefit (life insurance) and living benefit (income protection and specified illness insurance)
Life Insurance in the event of your premature death
This is a lump sum payment or a regular income that will be paid to your estate or your dependents in the event of your untimely death. Most people will have life assurance if they have a mortgage but that will usually only pay off your mortgage. Some may have additional life cover through their employment benefits (also known as death in service). However, many do not, and it is important to put additional cover in place if you have children or anyone financially dependent on you.
Living benefit if you suffer an illness or injury
There are two types of living benefits:
- Income Protection
- Specified Illness Cover
Income Protection
This provides peace of mind knowing you will continue to receive an income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. It is the most comprehensive, long-term benefit you can get. Your income supports everything in your current and future lifestyle, and it is important to protect it. The current maximum State Illness Benefit (if you are entitled to it) is €220 per week, which is not enough for most of us to survive on.
Specified Illness Cover
Will provide a tax-free lump sum payment on the diagnosis of specified serious illness. It is also sometimes called ‘serious’ or ‘critical illness cover’. This benefit can give you financial freedom while you focus on your recovery. For example, it can help with additional medical costs or travel for treatment.
When it comes to financial protection advice, we will work with you to design a plan that works for you and you budget. As part of your plan, we also recommend you prepare or update your Will to ensure your wishes are looked after.
Savings & Investments
Before looking at any long-term saving, investing or retirement planning, we always recommend you have a minimum sum of 3-6 months of your net monthly expenses put aside in an easily accessible bank or credit union account as an emergency fund. This money is for any unforeseen emergencies (for example, the boiler breaks down or car repairs), or if you need to take time out of work whilst changing jobs, for sickness or caring for a relative, bereavement or any other reason.
After the emergency funds are accounted for, the next item to look at would be short-term savings to ensure you have money put aside for any large items you may be planning in the next 5 years – for example, changing car, big holidays or house renovations. Again the ‘home’ for this money is a bank or credit union deposit account but you can consider a ‘notice’ or ‘term’ type account where you may be able to get some interest on the money.
Long term Savings and Investments
Whilst deposit accounts are ideal for emergency and short-term savings where you are foregoing growth for safety, deposit accounts are currently paying all time low interest rates. So, when looking at your medium to long-term financial goals, there are alternatives to consider where your money will work harder for you.
We use a disciplined approach when advising you on your savings and investments. These are some of the questions we will ask you:
- Why are you saving or investing?
- How long do you wish to save or invest for?
- What is the goal of the savings or investment plan? What returns do you need to achieve?
- What is your understanding of investment risk?
We will assess your savings and investment goals as well as how you feel about investment risk, and then we will advise on what options best suit you. There are many options whether you would like to save a regular monthly amount or if you have a lump sum to invest. We will create a diversified investment strategy that will suit your needs as well as your appetite and tolerance for investment risk.
Sustainable Investing
In addition to living a more sustainable and climate friendly life, we can also consider this for our savings, investments and our retirement planning. Sustainable investing involves fund managers investing in companies that lead their sector when it comes to ESG practices. ESG is an approach that builds Environmental, Social and Governance considerations into the investment decision along with traditional financial analysis
- Environmental factors include issues such as climate change, deforestation, biodiversity and waste management.
- Social factors include issues such as labour standards, nutrition and health and safety.
- Governance includes issues from company strategy to remuneration policies and board independence or diversity
As part of our investment advice process, we will consider the adverse impact of investment decisions on sustainability. We will look at sustainability investments both when we are initially advising you and as part of the ongoing advice we provide to you. As part of our research and assessment of products, we assess the information provided by the product providers and the investment fund managers that we use and we will advise you of the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of investment products.
Warning: Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance
Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up
Retirement Planning
Planning for your retirement does not need to be complicated, our simple guide to a comfortable retirement will put you in control, giving you certainty and assurance of when you can retire and how much income you can expect in retirement.
Step One: Understand why you need a pension?
- When you stop working your income will also stop.
- The current state pension of €13,171 per annum (if you are entitled to the full pension) would mean a large drop in income for many of us, plus the qualifying age is likely to be pushed out further.
- Our living age is getting longer, therefore you may need to support yourself for a longer retirement.
Contributing to a pension is one of the most tax efficient ways of saving. This is because you receive income tax relief on the contributions, your pension fund grows tax free and at retirement you receive some of your fund back as a tax-free lump sum.
Step Two: How much to contribute to a pension?
Deciding how much to save is different for everyone. You might decide based on how much you think you will need to live when you retire. Or, you may have other priorities now such as saving for mortgage or childminding expenses, so may not be able to afford to save as much as you would like. Remember pensions are very flexible and you can increase your pension contributions as affordability increases over time.
If you have other pensions from previous employments or assets such as investment properties or other investments, we will incorporate them in your overall retirement plan.
Step Three : Where do I invest my contributions?
We will help you choose the right investment fund for your pension. We will start with an investment risk assessment and then advise you on the most appropriate investment plan for your pension. There are many options depending on your investment risk tolerance and the length of time you have to go to retirement. We will continually review your pension investments to ensure they meet with your expectations.
Step Four: Looking after your pension in the long term and into your retirement.
Like your income and your home, your pension will be one of your most important assets, therefore it is important to review your pension regularly. SurePlan Financial can help you throughout your retirement journey, setting goals, reaching miles stones and making changes where necessary.
Retirement Planning Calculator
Calculate what you need to save for your retirement
