When it comes to highlighting your future goals I firmly believe it’s important to dream. Thinking about what you really want to achieve with your life is an important part of any planning process, particularly a financial plan.

However once you’ve thought about what you’re looking to achieve with your financial future it’s often time to get practical…

Let’s assume you’ve written a list of things you’ll want to do over the next few years (if you haven’t done this it’s worth doing this now!)

Some of these activities you’ll want to do regularly. Others will be a one off.

Some of the activities on your list won’t cost anything or very little. Others will probably be a bit more expensive.

The next step therefore is to take your list and assign both an estimated cost and frequency to each of the things you want to do.

Then it’s time to think about your regular expenses. What do your bills cost? What do you spend on food? How much do you spend socially?

If you’re approaching retirement, it’s worth considering how many of your regular expenses will continue.

The reality is that in retirement some of these expenditures will cease or decrease but other expenses will increase or start and there may be one off spends.

However the reality is that your income is likely to change and you may be receiving a lump sum through the sale of a business or the release of tax free cash from a pension scheme.

The most important thing is to make these calculations part of the financial plan.

Whilst you can do this yourself on a spreadsheet we use sophisticated software with our clients which helps us visualise how they’re income and expenditure might change in the future.

This software is called ‘cashflow modelling’ software and helps us provide a clear picture of our client’s financial affairs both now and in the future.

Doing this will give you an insight into whether your hopes, dreams and aspirations but are only part of what you need to do to build a realistic financial plan.

However getting ‘practical’ bit by bit and starting to turning your hopes, dreams and aspirations into real world goals is an important part of the process.

To talk to us about how we can help you ‘get practical’ with your financial plan don’t hesitate to call us on 01708 606 202 or email Cassiedaems@cervellofp.co.uk