Your financial DNA forms the foundation for all the wealth management services we provide. But what does ‘financial DNA’ mean exactly and what are the benefits of understanding it? Our chartered financial planners explain.
When it comes to protecting and growing your wealth, your path to financial freedom is a personal one. However, a one-size fits all approach to wealth management is adopted by many financial advisers.
At Everlong Wealth, we want to understand what makes you ‘you’. One way we achieve this is through exploring your financial DNA.
Below, we outline the different components that make up your financial DNA and the impact this has on your wealth management journey.
What is your financial DNA?
Your financial DNA encompasses everything that affects or could affect the decisions you make about money. It goes beyond simply reviewing your spending habits and balance sheet to take into account more personal aspects of life, such as your personality and family circumstances.
What is your financial DNA made up of?
Like your genetic makeup, your financial DNA is unique to you. The journey to understanding your personal financial DNA starts with our comprehensive consultation process, which explores seven key areas.
Your income
Unsurprisingly, a key component of your financial DNA is your income. To manage your wealth successfully, we first need to understand how it is grown and maintained. This process involves a detailed analysis of your income sources.
While each person’s income is different, typical revenue streams include:
- Salaries
- Pensions
- Investments
You work hard for your wealth, and you deserve to enjoy it. Our aim is to help you get the most out of your finances and reach a place of financial security so that you have the freedom to live life fully, now and in the future.
Your lifestyle
The lives we lead greatly impact how we spend our wealth. Car collecting, fine-dining, travelling – wherever your interests and passions lie, developing a thorough understanding of your lifestyle allows us to formulate a financial plan that supports it.
Expenditure can generally be categorised into three types of costs:
- Basics – your necessities and fixed costs (council tax, mortgage, groceries, etc.)
- Leisure – costs involved in how you enjoy your free time (hobbies, interests, etc.)
- Luxuries – luxury items and purchases that are not deemed necessities.
As well as your lifestyle choices, we want to understand what your vision for the future looks like. Have you always dreamt of travelling the globe or buying a family villa abroad? Do you have big ambitions for your business or expanding your property portfolio? Our wealth management services help you to align your current needs with future goals and transform those pipedreams into action plans.
Your tax profile
To build an accurate picture of your financial DNA, we need to carry out a full assessment of your tax profile, considering your tax obligations and identifying any allowances you might be entitled to. We use these insights to help you stay compliant and reduce your tax liabilities, preserving your wealth for use on other costs and priorities.
Your asset position
In addition to your income and expenditure, the assets you own are an important part of your financial DNA. An asset is any resource you own that has economic value. Alongside physical assets, your asset position may be made up of intangible assets.
Examples of assets include:
- Property
- Business Equity
- Cars
- Investment portfolio
Part of our personalised financial planning process involves assessing the strength and quality of your asset position, as well as identifying opportunities to improve asset allocation.
Your risk profile
Are you a risk-taker in life or do you prefer to take a more conservative approach? This is what we aim to find out. While all investments involve an element of risk, each person’s receptiveness and response to risk is different.
Your entire financial strategy will be tailored to your individual risk profile, which our financial planners will establish through an understanding of your risk tolerance and risk capacity.
Your personality and values
Some financial planning companies are guilty of overlooking the people behind the figures, however, at Everlong we consider your personality and values to be equally important to your financial status.
We believe in having open and in-depth conversations with our clients that cover all areas of their lives. Ranging from the responsibilities in your life through to any personal or religious beliefs you may have, these discussions allow us to create a financial plan that is truly focused on you.
Your family tree
The needs of your family may also have an important role to play in building an effective financial plan. Whether it is funding your children’s education or caring for elderly parents, family is often at the centre of our most important financial decisions. By understanding your family tree, we can help ensure your wealth not only works for you, but past and future generations too.
Discovering your financial DNA
Every new client’s wealth management journey begins with our detailed discovery process. This consultation process allows us to get to know you and understand your financial DNA. We aim to establish an honest and transparent environment from your very first consultation, which supports the development of a close relationship between you and your financial adviser.
From your first contact with us and the initial consultations that follow, our goal is to gather a clear picture of both your financial and personal life. This includes everything from your financial status and future objectives through to your personal beliefs and life values. Our initial consultations are available without charge or obligation, so that we can first focus on understanding you and your needs.
By using industry-leading financial and investment research software, we collect extensive data to create a bespoke financial plan that charters a course to achieving your objectives.
In addition, our cash flow analysis will tell us precisely:
- The level of capital that is required to achieve your specific objectives
- When your financial target will likely be reached
- The investment growth rate needed to meet your financial goals; and
- The level of drawdown involved
The result of our client-focused approach to wealth management is a financial plan that reflects who you are as a person, the values you stand for, and the ambitions you are working towards.
The benefits of understanding your financial DNA
We all come from different walks of life, and our financial circumstances are just as varied. Trying to apply the same financial plan to everyone fails to appreciate these differences.
By taking the time to assess your personal situation and understand your financial DNA, we are able to provide a tailored wealth management offering that incorporates your short and long-term goals.
Through setting investment goals and establishing personalised benchmarks, we will help silence the external noise of the markets and keep you, and us, focused on your end mission.
In addition, thanks to our holistic approach to financial planning, our team of financial advisors can also tailor their support in line with your personal values, focusing on the matters that mean the most to you.
“Our mission is to maximise people’s lives by achieving financial freedom. The more we understand your financial DNA, the better we can help to shape your financial future.”
Paul Hamilton, Managing Director and Chartered Financial Planner, Everlong Wealth
Everlong Wealth – bespoke financial planning centred around you
As a Chartered financial planning firm, Everlong Wealth is dedicated to providing each of our clients with truly independent financial advice and delivering client-centred wealth management services to achieve financial freedom.
By cultivating a longstanding relationship with you, together we can plot a financial roadmap that is guided by your needs and ambitions, at every stage of your life.
For further information on your financial DNA and how we can help you achieve financial freedom through bespoke financial planning, contact our team of chartered financial planners today.
Disclaimer: The value of Investments can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed at any time. You may not get back the full amount invested.
