DIY Financial Planning

What is DIY Financial Planning?

Nearly everyone these days has heard of the term “financial planning”. You may however not necessarily know what it means though, or only have fair idea.

Financial planning is simply the process of planning in order to achieve your goals. The planning process itself is quite simple, but covering the scope of even a basic set of circumstances is the challenge. DIY Financial Planning just means that you do it yourself, rather than pay an overpriced financial planner to take your money and give you product advice in return.

Can I do it myself?

News alert! You ARE already doing yourself. Have you ever opened a bank account, applied for a loan, or paid a bill? Then you are subconsciously doing financial planning. It may be poor planning with very little thought behind it, but nonetheless it is still planning your finances.

Planning your own finances doesn’t mean that you have to go it alone. All it means is that you are the one driving this bus, and occasionally you might let someone on to help you eg. a financial planner, an accountant, a solicitor.

Should I do it myself?

If you don’t do it I can guarantee that no-one else will. Or at least, no-one else will do the full job. At best someone will take your money, invest it and collect ongoing fees for eternity.

So as far as I can work out, if you don’t start taking control right now, then you might live to regret your lack of planning sometime in the near to distant future.

How do I do it?

Everything, and I mean “everything” you need to start taking control of your personal finances is available mostly for free on a little thing called the “internet”. The main problem is having too much information at your finger tips. This blog aims to guide you in the right direction.

What do I need?

• A computer
• Connection to the Internet
• A printer
• A note pad and pen
• A good filing cabinet

That’s it! Oh, sorry. I forgot to mention that you will need to set aside a regular amount of time each week, and have a good attitude, plus a dash of motivation to succeed.

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