Your Financial Goals

Fisher Investments UK takes the time to understand your overall financial situation, including your financial goals, needs, investment time horizon and more. Fisher Investments UK’s advice service is a restricted advice service only. This means that we will only recommend certain products and services offered by a limited number of third parties.

At the conclusion of a detailed review, we may recommend, where deemed suitable, an asset allocation strategy we feel best fits your particular situation, along with a recommendation for the discretionary investment management services of Fisher Investments. Fisher Investments UK is a restricted advice firm authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Fisher Investments is not authorised and regulated by the FCA—they are based in the United States and regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. This means that certain protections of retail customers in the UK, including the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, do not apply. However, the assets of clients who use a UK custodian are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme by virtue of the custody arrangement.

The Importance of Clear Financial Goals

Determining your financial goals may be one of the most important things you can do to help achieve long-term investing success. When you’re young, you tend to have short-term financial goals which are usually simple—such as establishing an emergency fund, starting your retirement saving, buying a new car or accumulating a down payment for your first home mortgage. But, as you become more financially stable, your goals should reflect the increasing complexity of responsibly managing your wealth.

Where to Begin

Identify Your Goals

Setting financial goals can be challenging, and most people don’t know where to start. Financial goals don’t just have to be about saving money. They can be about anything tied to your finances. Drafting a will, assigning account beneficiaries, selecting a power of attorney in the event you become incapacitated, and establishing trusts can all be financial goals—and are all things worth doing! In many cases, common financial or investment goals may include:

Goal 1: Avoid Running Out of Money

For some investors, this is their primary goal to ensure they avoid aged poverty. Whilst some believe the key to avoid running out of money is to invest in low-volatility investments (fixed interest, for example), this approach isn’t always prudent and could even be detrimental.

Goal 2: Maintain or Improve Lifestyle

If you want to ensure your pre-retirement lifestyle continues or enhances throughout retirement, then you’ll want to maintain or grow your purchasing power. But inflation will have an impact, so it’s important to consider this is in your retirement plan.

Goal 3: Increase Wealth

If you’re able to enjoy your desired retirement lifestyle without fear of depleting your assets during your lifetime, it’s possible you wish to grow your investments over a long period—often beyond your life expectancy. Common goals are to leave a legacy for heirs and/or a charity.

By listing out your personal finance objectives, you can hold yourself accountable and increase the odds you achieve them. There is a reason many of us still make grocery lists! It reduces the chance we forget something critical.

Identify Your Investment Time Horizon

Once you’ve identified your financial goals, it is important to determine the length of time you need your money to last so you can achieve these goals—also known as your “investment time horizon.” For long-term goals, this may be your life expectancy or even extend beyond that. Short-term goals may only require a specific number of years, for example, setting aside £200 per month for five years to pay for a kitchen renovation.

Assess Your Financial Picture

Another important part of achieving your financial goals is having a clear understanding of your current and expected future financial situation. For example, you should document your current income, expenses, investments, debts and savings. Likewise, you should identify future cash-flow needs required to help you maintain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.

Achieving your financial goals isn’t easy. Fisher Investments UK can help you accomplish your long-term financial goals. Through our parent company Fisher Investments, clients can get tailored portfolio management services and the right support to help them stay on track.

Learn More About How We Help You

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Retirement Planning

It’s always the right time to plan for retirement. Whether you’re curious about saving for retirement, preparing to retire soon or already in retirement, we can provide resources to help you create or adjust your retirement plan so you can be confident about what’s ahead. We walk you through some retirement planning basics, such as what to look for in an investment manager, how you should change your investment approach through retirement and much more. Additionally, we offer resources for creating a financial plan, including estate planning, analysing insurance and annuities.

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Grow Your Wealth

Growing wealth is a priority for many investors—whether that’s to prepare for retirement or achieve long-term goals like leaving a legacy for heirs or a beloved charity. At Fisher Investments UK, we take the time understand your financial goals and personal financial situation to help you grow your wealth over time. We also believe an educated investor is a better investor. That’s why we help clients understand their investments. We have resources available to help investors know what types of assets are available, understand the importance of asset allocation and learn strategies for generating investment income.

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Preserve Your Wealth

Maybe you are already at a point where you feel good about the wealth you’ve built—now you just need to protect it. At Fisher Investments UK, we can help you avoid common mistakes that may jeopardise the likelihood of preserving your wealth. For example, many investors often ignore the insidious impact of inflation on their income or withdrawals. Others underestimate expenses they may incur later in life. For example, your spending on eating out might decrease, whereas care costs can increase dramatically. The best ways to preserve your wealth are to have a well-built retirement plan and to regularly review your financial situation.

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Manage Your Estate

When you hear the phrase “estate planning,” the first thought that comes to mind may be inheritance taxes. However, estate planning is about more than just reducing taxes. It’s about ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes. Whilst talking about death and inheritance can be unpleasant, estate planning can give you peace of mind over what will happen to your assets (and debts) after you pass away. It can also help provide clarity to your heirs. At Fisher Investments UK, we believe having these difficult conversations early on will set you and your family up for success over the long term. We can provide assistance with estate planning to help you navigate financial matters and inheritance for your loved ones. We can also help you maximise your annual allowances, make gifts and utilise trust planning, if suitable.

The Importance of Clear Financial Goals