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More than ever, individuals and families are seeking out professional help to guide them in this uncertain financial, investment, and economic environment.  Here are some of the benefits of working with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.

Financial planning is about more than money.

At its core, financial planning is about effectively managing financial resources so that individuals can lead happier, more fulfilling lives today and tomorrow.  One of the very first steps in a financial planning relationship is to help you define your life goals.  Do you want to start your own company, have more time to volunteer, change careers, live somewhere else?  How do you balance competing goals, such as saving for retirement while putting children through college and helping elderly parents?

In a good financial planning relationship, you, and the CFP® professional periodically reassess your goals and strategies already in place to achieve those goals, especially as life circumstances change.  No financial planning or investment software program can effectively come up with those kinds of questions – let alone provide the right answers.

Financial planning sees the whole, not just the parts.

Many financial specialists provide valuable services to people for a special financial need, such as buying property and casualty insurance or drafting a will.  However, a CFP^® professional typically provides the overview to make sure the various parts are working in harmony and not against each other.  For example, one professional’s strategy to save income taxes may undermine another professional’s investment strategy.  A computer might provide investment advice (though usually not well-tailored to your individual needs), but a CFP^® professional can help you find ways to free up additional money for investing.  It also is the CFP^® professional who might discover that your computer-designed investment plan could be seriously undermined by a costly medical crisis because you don’t have adequate disability insurance or health care coverage.

CFP^® professionals motivate.

Sure, you probably know you need a will, better insurance, a budget, a better handle on your investments and assessment of a host of other financial issues.  Perhaps you could do some of it adequately on your own.  But there is nothing like going to a CFP^® professional to motivate you to finally take the actions you have been procrastinating.  For example, some studies on retirement found that people who planned more thoroughly for their retirement experienced fewer financial “surprises” when they did retire.

CFP^® professionals provide checks and balances.

Beyond the financial expertise and the motivation to act, the CFP^® professional can provide a much-needed objective perspective.  Numerous studies show that investors who work with a qualified financial professional trade less often and average better returns than those who invest on their own.  CFP^® professionals can filter out the financial “noise” that so often clouds financial judgment and help to reduce emotional decision-making.  This independent perspective is especially critical when a family is under stress such as from a job loss, divorce, or major market decline.

One of the greatest benefits of financial planning and working with a CFP^® professional is the ability to better prepare you to handle the inevitable financial roadblocks thrown up in life that can detour you from achieving your life goals.