What is a financial health check?

A financial health check is your opportunity to have an expert check over your finances and talk to you about what you are trying to achieve.

It’s a holistic review designed to provide reassurance, new ideas and help and advice where needed.

Just as you would take a car for an MOT and have an expert tell you if everything was running ok, a financial health check will do the same but with your finances. The difference is that a car MOT is a legal requirement meaning you have one every year whereas a financial health check is entirely optional so people tend not to understand what it is or how it could benefit them.

Why should I have a financial health check?

Whatever stage in life you are at, you can benefit from having your finances reviewed by an expert.

People seeking a financial health check tend to fall into one of three categories:

1. Those needing reassurance

If you are looking for reassurance about your financial health, the chances are that you feel like you have good knowledge and understanding of your finances and have a financial plan in place.

You may want an expert to check that you are on the right track and offer suggestions to improve things further.

2. Those seeking new ideas

If you are seeking new ideas, it’s most likely because you have a reasonable grasp of your finances but feel like you’re not progressing as quick as you would like or have hit a stumbling block.

You probably want some new ideas to boost your financial plan and would appreciate regular check ins that will help to build your financial knowledge and confidence.

3. Those wanting help and advice

If you are actively wanting help and advice, this is commonly because you are struggling to manage your finances and don’t know what to do to improve your situation or work towards your goals.

You probably need an expert to help you put a financial plan in place and to work closely with you until you feel in control of your finances.

The aim of a financial health check is to work alongside you, at a level and pace you are comfortable with to help you make more of your finances than you currently are.

What’s included?

The first part of a financial health check is looking over your existing finances to understand what you already have in place.

The second and perhaps more interesting part is us having a conversation about you. Finding out how you manage your money, whether you plan ahead, what you want to achieve and what your future plans. We’ll ask you what the most important things in life are to you and how important it is to protect these. It’s not just a financial conversation, it’s so much bigger than that.

Lastly we’ll agree what happens next. This is unique to everyone and firmly puts the ball in your court to decide on how you’d like to proceed.

How do I prepare?

The more prepared you are, the easier it is for us to understand your situation.

We ask you to prepare the following:

• A budget planner – we’ll send you one to complete if you don’t already have one. This is essential as it helps us to understand what you do with your money. No judgement, we promise!
• Details for any savings accounts, investments and pensions you hold.
• Details of any debts – for example mortgages, credit cards and loans. We’ll need to know balances, monthly payments, term remaining and the interest rate you are paying.
• Details of any employer benefits that you receive such as death in service benefits and sickness benefits.
• Details of any existing protection plans or insurances that you currently hold.

If you can’t find this information, don’t worry just gather as much as you can.

What will a financial health check tell me?

Honestly, until we complete it we don’t know! It really is different for everyone.

But, what we can say with confidence is that you will feel the benefit of having such a thorough review. Best case scenario is that you boost your financial wellbeing in some way, worst case is that you walk away knowing you are doing a absolutely fantastic job of your financial planning. It truly is win-win!

If you’d like to know more about how we’ve helped other people with their finances by completing a financial health check, you can read our testimonials and client case studies here.

For more help and advice or to receive a complimentary guide covering wealth management, retirement planning or Inheritance Tax planning, contact Yorkshire Financial Planning on 01482 275540 or complete our contact form here.