Little kids might be spooked by the ghosts, zombies, giant spiders and pumpkin people who crop up in yards each October.
But even when you’ve outgrown Halloween fears (although granted, spiders are still creepy) you still have to deal with a slew of grown-up anxieties – and these fears don’t disappear on November 1.
For example, even though planning your finances only grows more urgent each year, many people procrastinate until it’s almost too late, causing financial fear.
Why?
Because often, even the very phrase “financial planning” sets off alarm bells. The pressure of planning an enjoyable, secure retirement gets even worse when you think about the myriad of investments, the unpredictable stock market, and all the ways your plans could go wrong.
But actually, these fears are more like lawn ghosts and scarecrows than you think.
Like plastic disembodied hands, financial planning isn’t something to be scared of at all – and, unlike those hands, it IS necessary for your future.
So here’s 3 common financial fears, and why you shouldn’t be afraid of them:
1. Your Financial Advisor Won’t Have Time for You
This fear’s pretty common for people who have worked with large financial firms. Many financial advisors for those firms have so many clients that they simply can’t meet with each one regularly.
So clients are left to figure out the stock market themselves, without the advisor’s specialized market knowledge. If the stock market goes down, they risk losing their savings and being left even worse off than before.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be afraid of getting lost in the shuffle here. Since we’re a small local firm, we personally introduce every single client to their advisor, who will review their account in annual meetings.
You can also easily reach your advisor at any time during the year – without having to call a 1-800 number or be put on hold five times first!
These regular check-ups ensure that your savings are well invested and always working for you, no time to have financial fears!
2. You Don’t Have Enough Money to Invest
Large financial firms often turn away any client under their minimum amount (usually at least $150,000, often up to $250,000).
Even if clients can invest that much, those in the lower echelons (under $500,000) usually can’t get annual meetings or reviews.
But we’re not a huge corporate firm.
And we’re independent, so we can offer you the best-fit investments in the entire market.
That’s why we have no minimum.
(and, as said in #1, more personalized service.) 
So don’t worry about not having enough money to invest – we’ll help it grow!
3. You Don’t Have Enough Money to Retire, or for Emergencies
Which really isn’t good news if you don’t have enough saved up for emergencies, much less the expenses of daily living.
That’s Why we Developed an Effective 2-Bucket System
- INCOME BUCKET
This “bucket” is the money from which you’ll draw an income stream during retirement. With this, you’ll pay your bills, maintain your lifestyle, and live your life.
Since it must remain stable, this bucket will be conservatively invested.
- GROWTH BUCKET
This is the money you’ll set aside and let grow. Since you already have a stable income bucket, your growth investments can be more aggressive & gain higher rewards. The growth bucket can also be used for emergencies, since withdrawing from it doesn’t affect the income bucket.
As your growth bucket investments flourish, you’ll be able to shift some of their amounts to your income bucket, effectively “giving yourself a raise” while protecting your gains.
(You can find many more details on our two-bucket system and its strengths in Roch Tranel and Ben Pahl’s book “Sunny Side Up: A Guide to Cracking Open Your Nest Egg”!)
So financial planning isn’t that scary after all – as long as you face your financial fears and get started!
Set up your complimentary meeting by completing this simple form or give us a call at (847) 680-9050.