ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Making A Financial Plan - What are Some Things to Consider

Updated on August 11, 2013

Financial Planning, where do you start?

Making your own financial plan is very important to your financial success.  Many people don't know where to begin, but really it is very easy to get on the right track toward maximizing your finances, and setting goals.  Learning to find ways to meet those goals will really get things growing, and your net worth will be increasing over time. 

Financial Plans are working documents.  Some people are more flexible and others are more focused and even sometimes a bit rigid in their thinking, etc.  Your own financial plan can reflect your own personality and outlook on life.  In fact, that is the best way for it to be, so you can stick to it, and have it be the more realistic for you.  You can work with an adviser to make a financial plan, or use a computer program or planning site on the web, or come up with one on your own.  Some people are self taught, and just read and research the information and are able to do it themselves.  However you get it done, make sure you do get it done.  Or just know that it comes highly recommended at least.

Source

Start with some basic financial documents

To begin with, you want to start with your financial documents.  If you were to speak to an adviser about your finances, this is what they would ask for.  They would ask for your income tax forms, very likely, or a summary of your investments, and any other pertinent information like retirement plans or insurance policies. 

If you do decide to go with an adviser, one of the benefits will likely be that they will help to come up with a detailed written plan for you.  This plan is often called a personal financial analysis.  This document will summarize all the information that you have provided.  It very likely will include an overview of of different financial planning strategies that could apply to your personal situation.  It will recommend particular investments and/or other steps that you ought to take to achieve your financial goals and objectives. 

Not all people may like that approach however.  You can just go a more simple route and request a letter which summarizes things for you.  It will summarize your goals that you are working toward, the approaches to investing you want to take, and recommended investments from your adviser.

Banker's Hall
Banker's Hall

Key things

The main things to consider when presenting information to an adviser or just doing it yourself include things like your financial situation currently, and financial goals. Share your ideas on considerations for college expenses, and retirement, wills or trusts, and estate planning. The more information you have gathered and considered and thought about, can aid in the process.

You want to consider your risk tolerance, and you will likely be asked about this by an adviser. So think about it before hand. I personally don't like taking a lot of risk at this point in my life, financially. I don't want to make a "gamble" and would share that with my adviser. They will analyze the current situation, and ask or help you to prioritize your goals. Deciding on strategies that will get you where you are headed is next. Look for the best ways to build and manage your money. Decide on how to implement the strategies is next, and waiting for some time to pass and then evaluating how everything is going. After that point, you need to review everything, and adjust if necessary to tweak things to be even better, so you can build on your dreams.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)