Ghost Stories/Lifestyle Personal Finance with Paul McCoubrey.
Professionalism and discretion is key in the personal finance industry. We of course trust our financial advisor with not only our future, but with the future of our family. It is of course vital that we choose the correct advisor for us personally.
I have had the pleasure of introducing several of my friends and family to Paul McCoubrey. All of whom have come back to me with glowing reports of his professionalism, understanding and advice.
One of the best pieces of advice I had ever received from Paul was the following. When we think of financial advisors they can be mostly more older than we are. Paul’s point was that when we get to retirement age, our initial advisors may have retired long before us. How would you feel about that?
The Chat:
Navigate Financial Planning are based in East Belfast. Paul and his team help their clients in many ways. From buying their first home to securing their last one.
There are 2 divisions in the business:
- Navigate Mortgages
- Navigate Wealth (Lifestyle Financial Planning)
Lifestyle financial planning is a compelling service propositions that focuses on the very thing those clients want most………. Helping clients to identify achieve and maintain their desired lifestyle, without fear of running out of money.
By doing this, Navigate give financial security, financial independence, peace of mind, freedom to choose.
Paul wears 3 hats when dealing with his clients.
- Life Planner
- Financial Planner
- Independent Financial Planner
A life-planners job is to identify where you are now, how you got there and where you want to get to in the next 5, 10, 15 years. Paul’s job is to identify what you want to achieve in the time you have available and in particular what sort of lifestyle you want to enjoy
A financial planner’s job is to identify all the resources available now; all the resources coming available to you in the future and more importantly, the resources that might have to come available to you in order to satisfy the needs of your life plan.
Finally, if your plan indicates your needs are best served via a financial product or investment, then and only then does Paul put on his 3rd hat on as an IFA.
In order to do his job properly Paul has to wear all 3 hats.
Paul feels that is ultimately his responsibility to tell his clients the truth about their financial position. Sugar coating it is never going to help his clients in the long run.
I asked Paul why we should use a Financial Planner.
He said that there is almost a never ending list of reasons that we should secure our future.
Beginning with
- Peace of mind
- Financial Security
- Reduce risk
- Know where they are going
- Clarity
- Simplified Financial Life
- More time/freedom
- More choices
- Organised
- Being in control
Top Tips:
I asked Paul for his top tips on becoming more financially secure.
- Live within your means and pay yourself first
- Understand your expenditure – set a budget
- Set a plan to pay off unsecured debt
- Protect your income and your family
- Build an emergency fund
- Start saving money – give your money a job
- Plan for retirement
- Revisit & Review
Paul presented me with some figures for readers of the blog to understand.
40 yr old – retiring at 60, living to 90, £30k gross pa (6%) = 6% £950 or £760 into pension
40 yr old – retiring at 60, living to 90, £40k gross pa (6%) = 6% £1,267 or £1,013 into pension
Save £500 a month for 20 years @ 6% = £230,520
Save £100 a month for your new born child, for 18 years = £35,929 (6 %)
Thank you so much for your time Paul.
I really appreciate it.