Handling finances is a part of life and something that most people do, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t stressful. Indeed, many people don’t feel confident making financial decisions, and financial advice could ease their mental load.
Even when you’re relatively comfortable, managing your finances can be a cause of concern. Indeed, you might find it even more stressful as you may be considering how to reduce tax liability or how to make use of allowances to pass on wealth to your loved ones.
Worries about the future are common too. You may feel confident in your ability to handle your finances now, but what would happen if you faced a financial shock? Or how will you manage your finances when you retire, and you may no longer receive a reliable income?
Fears about the future could harm your mental wellbeing and mean you don’t enjoy the things that are important to you.
While you might think of financial planning as a way to grow your wealth, the non-financial benefits are often just as valuable. Establishing a relationship with a financial planner could reduce your mental load. Read on to find out how.
A financial plan could give you confidence in the future
A survey published in IFA Magazine in January 2025 found more than half of over-55s – the equivalent of 10.5 million people – are worried their retirement savings won’t last their lifetime. Only 27% of those surveyed said they weren’t concerned about running out of money.
It’s not just retirement that can cause money worries either.
As a worker, you might worry about how you’d meet essential costs if you became too ill to work, or as a parent, you might want to set aside a financial safety net for your family in case the worst should happen.
As life is unpredictable, effectively managing your finances to ensure you’ll be secure in the future can be difficult. We can work with you to help you understand how the decisions you make now could affect your security in the future.
A cashflow model provides a way to visualise how your wealth will change over time.
You start by inputting the details of your assets now, and the actions you’re taking, such as how much you’re adding to your pension each month or the amount you plan to add to a Stocks and Shares ISA each year. In addition, you can estimate factors like investment returns.
With this data, a cashflow model can predict how the value of assets may change during your lifetime.
If you’re worried about your finances, a cashflow model can be particularly useful for calculating how financial shocks would affect you.
For example, you might use it to see how needing to retire five years earlier than expected due to ill health would affect your retirement income. Or, if you stopped non-essential outgoings, such as money into a savings account, because you’re unable to work, how that could affect long-term plans.
Understanding how your finances might be affected by these shocks could mean you’re able to take steps to secure your long-term finances. You might decide to take out appropriate financial protection or increase your pension contributions now to create a safety net and offer you peace of mind.
The outcomes of a cashflow model cannot be guaranteed, but it can provide a useful overview of how your finances might change and highlight potential gaps, which provides an opportunity to close them.
As a cashflow model relies on accurate information, regularly updating the data is important.
Working with a financial planner could enable you to focus on what’s important to you
According to a February 2025 survey from Moneybox, just a third of UK adults said they feel very confident in managing their personal finances. In fact, 64% believe they’ve missed out on financial opportunities in life due to a lack of financial knowledge and low confidence.
The financial world can seem like it’s filled with jargon, acronyms, and complexities to wrap your head around. So, it’s not surprising that many people don’t feel confident making decisions.
By working with a financial planner, you have someone to turn to when you don’t understand something or aren’t sure what the right choice for you is. The reassurance of knowing someone is there for you could ease financial stress.
The cognitive and emotional effort to plan, anticipate, prepare, and organise your finances may create a mental load that you struggle to manage, even when you’re confident about financial matters.
So, you might choose to work with a financial planner in a way that allows you to take a hands-off approach, with them reviewing assets like your investments or pension on your behalf, with regular reviews.
Handing over these tasks might mean you’re able to focus on what’s most important to you, whether that’s spending time with your family, working your way up the career ladder, or pursuing a passion.
Contact us to talk about your financial plan
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of financial planning and find out how we could support you, please get in touch.
Please note: This blog is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice, which should be based on your individual circumstances. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.
Note that financial protection plans typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.
