What makes you financially unique?

This is the second of two Insights on the many ways that each of us is unique – and why your understanding of this is key to planning your money.

What we’ve covered, and what’s coming up?

These Insights are suitable for people of all ages and wealth levels.

In the first Insight, we explored the non-financial factors that make us unique.

We looked at the problems with personality labelling models that try to simplify who we are. And we pointed to some more robust tools for gaining insight into our personalities, emotional styles, character strengths, and more!

If you’ve not yet read that first Insight, please start there.

In this second Insight (a 10 to 20-minute read), we’ll focus more on how our unique financial goals and circumstances create a need for a unique financial life plan.

We’ll also show you how to avoid a classic behavioural trap which makes a lot of people’s financial planning (and their working lives) unnecessarily hard!

Here are the sections for this Insight:

1. How will you start planning your money?
2. Why do people focus on the products?
3. Why must your financial product set be unique to you?
4. How could you map out your money-life goals?
5. What are your unique financial (and human) facts?
6. What is the happiness forecasting problem?
7. How do you balance these challenges?
8. Bottom lines and next steps.

So, let’s get right into this.

How will you start planning your money?

In broad terms, you can start planning your money in one of two ways.

You can focus your attention on either:

1. Learning everything about the financial products and investment strategies available.
2. Your future life goals – for yourself and anyone else you want to help.

And yes, as you might have guessed, the second approach is easier and produces the best results!

It’s easier because it uses your expertise about yourself, your unique attitudes, life goals and circumstances.

It produces better results because you must know what you want from your money and when before you can know which boxes and investment funds might be suitable for holding your money.

So, we urge you to start on the right of this picture.

Doing so will save you from many headaches upfront!

It’s the prospect of those headaches, by the way, which stops many from starting work to design a financial life plan.

Why do people focus on the products?

The short answer is that most are unaware of the financial planning process.

Here’s the evidence that almost no one searches for this most valuable service.

For financial advisers, planners and coaches

This educational Insight is one of many we’ve created for you to use under license in your business to help more people make better financial decisions – and see the value of professional advice.

You can brand these licensable insights to your business style and add your own firm’s calls to action.

If you have any questions at all, please email me at hello@paulclaireaux.com