These three steps will help you remember why you have a plan in the first place, what it’s designed to help you accomplish, and how we can help. 

Whatever you’re feeling right now is OK. We understand that your financial concerns are just one part of a very complicated and very personal situation involving your family, your work, your health care, and your basic needs. Add in the anxiety we’re all feeling about the situation in the wider world and you wouldn’t be human if your emotions weren’t a bit jumbled right now.

So please understand that when we advise you to take emotions out of your financial decision making during a crisis, we’re not advising you to ignore what you’re feeling. On the contrary, we encourage you to talk through your feelings with your spouse, children, co-workers, and other close friends or family. Burying your emotions only makes stressful situations more stressful. Our human capacity for empathy, understanding, connection, and mutual concern is going to help us all weather this storm. It’s also going to lead you towards healthier and more productive outlets for your feelings, such as charitable giving and finding creative ways to support local businesses. 

Once your feelings are out in the open, it will be easier for you to think about the financial part of your situation with a clear head. 

Try, for a moment, to set aside the market swings that may have been dominating your news feeds for the past few weeks. Instead, think about the reason that you started working with us in the first place.

And finally, we discussed how our Lifestyle Planning process can help you get that best possible life with the money you have.

Because we plan for clients’ lives, not just their money, we always take in a wide view of financial progress. The current big market dip will look like a blip with a longer-term panoramic perspective. But “stick to your plan” doesn’t mean we don’t do anything during a major market correction, especially if you’re at or nearing retirement age. It means that the moves we will consider will be based more on your upcoming life transitions than they are on unpredictable market movements. 

To keep yourself focused on things you can plan for, grab a sheet of paper and sit down, include your spouse or partner in this exercise if you have one. Divide that sheet into three sections:

Most of these items will already be things we’ve discussed and planned for over the course of our discussions. But it’s possible that recent events have filled up your Nows and bumped some Soons into Laters. We deliberately designed your Plan so that it can be responsive to these changing priorities and transitions while still being sensitive to larger economic realities. It may be useful to remind yourself of what you’re truly planning for so you could revisit your plans and recent reviews so you are best prepared for our next conversation when we can consider together what adjustments we should think about.

If you have a particular concern we suggest you pop it on an email to your adviser - enquiries@jwafinance.co.uk. 

The current crisis might alter your path a little bit. But your destination may still be the same.