At times, and especially at the moment, the world seems to be in a state of flux.

Each week there seems to be a new announcement on the new rules relating to COVID and whilst a few weeks ago it seemed that everything is under control we find ourself with another announcement which changes the short term rules.

My own personal perspective is that I’m relaxed about changes in the short term rules. I’d rather protect the health and wellbeing of my family, friends and people I love, like and trust and over the short term if this means making short term adaptations I’m pretty relaxed. However there’s one question that keeps me relaxed about these changes…

Will it all matter in 5 years time?

The answer is that in 5 years time (and I’m hoping this email/blog – insert as appropriate ages well!) we’ll more than likely be remembering the year the world went on lockdown and hopefully feeling grateful for the freedoms that have returned to our lives also and, for me anyway, a little sad about the additional time I had to read.

It’s also important to think about our financial plans, regardless of whether we continue to work or have retired, as a longer term plan. As we all live longer healthier lives we need to think both tactically and strategically about our money.

Tactically is how you manage your money day to day. The actions you take on at least an annual basis to ensure that you’re making the most of what you’ve got. That might be technical like using your tax efficient allowances like Pensions or ISA’s and making sure you legitimately mitigate as much tax as possible or it might be to ensure you’ve got a better understanding of how much you can afford to spend regularly to ensure you’ll never run out of money again.

Strategic is how we think about our longer term goals. What action do you need to take to live the life you want in the future, however that looks for you. What do you need to consider when thinking about what might go wrong, one particularly expensive example is the potential need for care. Can you afford to spend more money, or is this going to impact your longer term financial security?

Whether you’re thinking tactically or strategically or have questions related to the technical side of money, or the part of our service which helps people link their money to their lives we’re here to help. Part of what we want to ensure we support our clients with is being a voice at the end of the phone when they need us. We want to make sure that any query, large or small, we’re there to support you.

So, feel free to let us know if we can help in any way and thanks for your continued support.

Have a lovely day.