Cashflow Modelling: Clear the Financial Windscreen

When you want financial planning, you might be after cashflow modelling, without realising it.

What Cashflow Modelling really does

Financial planning, financial advice, wealth management – they’re all simple and common terms.

And, if you think about it, so is cashflow modelling.

We model your cashflows, in and out, to get the most accurate picture of where you are in your financial journey.

What matters most is where you want to get, also known as your objectives. Cashflow modelling shows us where you are, right now. We can then draw a line between these two points, which is your financial plan. The plan gives you peace of mind.

What happens during a Cashflow Modelling session?

It’s all quite modular.

For the modelling conversation, we sit down with you, turn on a few applications and capture as much data as possible.

We ask about your essential and leisure spending, your income, your savings, investments and other assets. We look for shortfalls. We project spending and income across your life – using sensible and realistic assumptions – factoring in those periods where you’ll save more and those where you’ll spend more.

Then we play it all back to you – mostly in simple, colour-codes and easy-to-understand bar charts and pie charts – to make sure we’ve heard correctly, and that you’re satisfied.

For example, we met a couple the other day and learned they could spend a little more wisely on discretionary items – and that one investment was performing way better than they knew.

Add in the day-to-day stuff and that’s plenty for us to help them be more financially organised, control their tax liabilities and give them a plan for the future.

Modelling the “what ifs”

But what really landed well – both in that meeting and almost every time we model client cashflows – is all the ‘what if’ stuff.

Perhaps you’re unsure about when to retire. Who isn’t these days? We can demonstrate your assets and income across a range of retirement scenarios.

Maybe your family has a history of heart conditions? We can model your wealth in poor health, to offer you more financial resilience.

Or there may be a windfall coming – a business sale or inheritance, say – and the model shows you how it could affect you.

We find clients leave their cashflow modelling session with a better understanding of their financial position and more confidence in advancing to their goals.

And that’s before we’ve devised a plan to get them there, considering windfalls, ill health and other possibilities.

Clearing the financial windscreen

It all means you can see where you’re going.

Your financial future can be like a misted-up windscreen. It’s hard to see ahead. You need to turn on the air conditioning and wait for it to clear before you start driving.

Cashflow modelling is a financial demister. It gives you clarity, confidence and conviction about the journey ahead.

It sits right at the core of everything we do for our clients – and we couldn’t imagine them setting off with confidence, without it.

If you’d like to know what your future looks like, get in touch on 020 7467 2700 or at hello@firstwealth.co.uk.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate cashflow modelling, estate planning or tax planning.

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.