At the start of Financial Planning Week, which runs this year from 6 – 10 June, we thought it would be helpful to share our Top Ten Tips to help put you in control of your finances:

1. It may seem obvious but it does help significantly to actually have a financial plan! We plan at work, we plan our holidays so why not plan something as important as our finances?  
2. It’s also never too soon to start saving. Retirement may seem a long way off, but the sooner you start, the earlier you can stop work and the more comfortable a lifestyle you will have when you come to retire. The way compound interest works means that the first contribution is the most valuable so if you start a savings plan at age 20 and stop contributing at age 35, you will have more money at 60 than someone who starts at age 35 and contributes double from 35 to 60.
3. Saving is also just a great habit to get into, for example, making a rule to always save 10% of your income is a very useful discipline to live by.
4. Make sure you’re taking full advantage of any tax allowances available to you, eg. maximising your ISA allowances and tax free pension contributions.
5. Wherever possible, get rid of debt – the cost of debt on credit cards and personal loans is likely to be far higher than the returns you get on any savings accounts so see if you can pay these off first.
6. Get external, professional help on your finances at the outset. When making a plan, you need an honest and objective appraisal of your finances and it’s often easier for someone with a wider perspective than your own to do this.
7. Set goals and objectives – it’s much easier to save if you know what you’re saving for and it also helps provide you with a proper incentive. It also gives you a real sense of achievement when you‘ve reached your goal, before you move on to the next one!
8. Be in control of your income and expenditure so that you budget sensibly. By knowing your numbers, you’re in a better position to make decisions regarding major purchases.
9. It’s always tempting to hope the worst will never happen but it is important that you put enough critical illness and life assurance in place to protect your loved ones.         
10. Review, review, review – don’t just make an investment plan and then never look at it again. The markets change and your circumstances will inevitably alter too, so it is important that you meet with your financial adviser on a regular basis to ensure your financial plan is still on track to meet your goals.