So, you’ve made the decision to see a financial planning consultant. Maybe you’ve even picked up the phone and made an appointment. Are you wondering what you need to do before your step through the office doors? You don’t want to show up to your appointment fumbling around for the necessary paperwork or, even worse, not having what you need at all.
Here, financial planning consultant Richard Cayne, of Meyer International, advises clients that are new to working with a planner on exactly what they should do before that all-important first appointment:
Know Why You Are There
Mumbling something about a friend sending you isn’t going to cut it when you are in a planner’s office. In order to get the most from your first appointment, you need to think about what your financial goals, hopes, dreams and fear are.
After all, your planner can only help you if he or she knows what you are trying to achieve.
“The more clearly you can define yourself financially – what you have, what you want, where you are and where you are going – the better your planner can work for you, “ said Richard Cayne.
Make a List
Go to that first visit with a planner armed with a list. Better yet, make a couple of lists.
Start by creating the list suggested above, outlining what you have and what you hope to have in your financial future. The other list that might make you feel more organized is a list of questions for the planner.
Include questions about stocks, bonds and 401ks; include questions about things you’ve overheard at cocktail parties and not understood; ask about that hot offshore jurisdiction that your brother-in-law won’t shut up about. Having all of your thoughts, ideas and questions in one place will calm you down and help you feel like you are going to that first appointment prepared to get all of the information you need.
Get Organized
Don’t just go to the appointment with your list, go with all the paperwork to back it up. Nothing will impress your planner less than a new client that comes in fumbling through a pile of papers while muttering, “I don’t know, I have this mutual fund thing somewhere that I haven’t checked on in a long time…”
Think about it this way: you’d never go to a tax appointment with your accountant without your pay records and list of deductibles, would you? It should be no different with your financial planner. Be prepared.
Relax
Your financial planning consultant is there to help you. Now that you’ve arrived at your appointment with all of your paperwork and questions in order, you can feel comfortable placing yourself and your finances in his or her capable hands.
For further information about seeing a financial planning consultant and other investment topics, Richard Cayne and Meyer International can be reached at (+66) 02 611 2561
