It takes many years of study and experience to bring together a holistic approach to the way financial planning for an individual, business or charity should be considered, explained, detailed, delivered, and of course reviewed regularly. You might know that you have a few options for your financial advice. You can get advice face to face if you have got the time, or, as we achieve with SaidSo, get online financial advice.
Your money, its planning and your needs do not stand still and there is lots to consider at the outset and on an ongoing basis.
With the many exams complete, you might think that a financial planner can hang up their study goggles and relax. You would be wrong. Each year, a financial planner also must undertake a minimum of 35 hours Continuing Professional Development (CPD), largely in the topics that they specialise in. This might be pensions, investments and of course protection planning. To be honest, it's not exciting, but it does keep the mind sharp to the options and opportunities that really ought to be in the advice mix.
What is protection planning anyway? We mean the likes of life assurance, critical illness cover, business protection, permanent health insurance, which to some extent have been a poor relation in comparison to the pension and investment market. I am not sure why, and there have been some changes to ensure that this topic remains at the forefront of an adviser's mind. One change is the need to complete 15 hours of CPD on the topic each year, either included within the minimum 35 hours, or above this level if need be. The first anniversary of this requirement has just passed and has been worthwhile. It should be noted that many protection providers have innovated in recent times to make their plans and offerings more flexible in the way they can be delivered, offering multi-covers in many instances.
Protection planning is usually one of the first topics you learn as a financial adviser and becomes to some extent second nature by the time you reach the more complicated topics. In part, this might be a reason why it gets neglected as other areas of advice are learned and understood. The CPD updates are very welcome, and a timely reminder of what has been learned in the past to stimulate the mind and ultimately conversations and advice to clients on plans and policies that might help their ever evolving needs. Lets face it, life does not stand still.
With lockdown 2.0 upon us, and with perhaps less to do, now might be a great time to have a look at the protections that you have in place now, either through work or plans you've put in place yourself. Whatever your protection needs may be, either personally to protect the family, or through a business to protect colleagues and shareholders as examples, make sure you have the cover you need, and if there are any shortfalls, take advice soon.