As you go through life, new goals and challenges will arise. Maybe you switch careers and get a new job or maybe you decide to move across the country.
Your finances play a big role in these changes, so it’s important to build a financial plan that’s flexible and suits your goals — but that’s easier said than done. Financial planning is like constructing a road map on which you can see where you are, where you’d like to go and how you plan to get there. A financial advisor with Ally Invest can help you craft that road map and remain agile through life’s twists and turns.
Read more: What is financial advising and why is it important?
Goals: The building blocks of the advisor relationship
Financial goals represent your “what.” In other words, the short- and long-term things you want to achieve financially. A financial advisor will help you assess your needs and create a plan for pursuing your goals not just at the beginning of your partnership, but throughout the relationship, as your life, finances and priorities evolve and change.
Your financial advisor can help you:
Determine what you can afford to save toward
Strategize methods to save or invest for a goal
Define where your money will go after you meet a goal
Establish how much money you need to fund your goal (e.g. buying a home or planning for retirement)
Anticipate future lifestyle desires/needs (e.g. the ability to travel or planning a family)
Advising: The true value of the financial advisor relationship
Designing a plan for achieving goals is a first and essential step toward establishing a relationship with your financial advisor. But their worth is realized during everything that comes after.
Think of your advisor as your coach whom you check in with regularly as you play the “game of life,” so to speak — they help you course correct as needed and even think beyond the playbook to modify your strategy when the unexpected happens.
The real advising lies in your “how” — the strategies you will use to pursue and accomplish your goals. Your financial advisor can help you:
Overcome hurdles (anticipated and unanticipated, i.e., job loss, divorce, medical emergencies)
Assess your current investment and savings strategies for each of your goals
Continually reassess goals and progress to help keep you on track
Ensure your goals are attainable and based on your income and lifestyle
Change course of action as life stages and needs change
Some financial needs can be anticipated. For example, retirementis a life stage most people should financially prepare for. Unplanned needs (such as a medical emergency or job loss) can be overwhelming while also having a large impact on your finances. Your financial advisor can help you recalibrate and stay steady during these times of upheaval.
An objective third party
Money matters can be emotionally charged. Your ego might get in the way and cause you to make a risky investment decision. Or you and your partner might have completely different attitudes toward spending and saving, causing conflict. Maybe you’re having trouble setting and keeping financial boundaries with your children. Perhaps you’ve become too reactive to the daily fluctuations of the market, making for knee-jerk investment decisions that don’t pan out.
Your Ally Invest financial advisor is a fiduciary who will act in your best interest in these situations, using their expertise to help you make financially sound decisions.
Starting your advising journey
Life is all about the journey, not the destination — and financial planning can be much the same way. Twists and turns are inevitable, and you will encounter both challenges and opportunities that were not part of your original plan. An Ally Invest dedicated advisor can help give you the tools, insights and personalized advice needed to help you make the right move at every fork in the road.
