I am writing this post as a link to an interesting blog by Richa Shukla on Personal Leadership posted on the Woman in Law website. It was an interesting piece even though I am not the target audience (far from it infact) because of the parallels Richa’s message has with messages I am (hopefully) conveying through my Financial Planning blogs.

I will leave you to read the article in full yourself but Richa’s overriding message is that the choices women (in Richa’s context but  it is applicable to men too) make are linked to the success we enjoy. But, the nature of society and the careers we choose pre-define what success looks like and forces us to follow paths that may be juxtaposed to ones we really aspire too. Rather than carving out individual paths for ourselves we conform to ones society and we, ourselves, expect (Richa refers to the career woman and working mother roles). 

Richa talks of Personal Leadership in which we make choices  because they suit us not society and in so doing we get out of our comfort zones and follow paths that inspire us, not ones that we feel we should take. These choices can lead to mistakes but mistakes that are learned from and from which we grow further.

For me, Financial Planning has an important role here. If we are to achieve what it most important to us; be it material possessions, the ability to provide everything we would wish for our children, caring for those less fortunate,  or whatever motivations we may have, without understanding what we need to acquire in order to realise those goals they are likely to remain unfulfilled.

To be successful we need to be able to measure our goals objectively, know what steps we need to put in place to achieve them and to understand what effect setbacks that may occur will have so provisions can be made to reduce them. It is also important to have a timetable to review whether we are on course to achieve our goals so we can make adjustments along the way.

For example, if you wish to spend time caring for those less fortunate you need to understand how much personal wealth you need to acquire to continue to live the lifestyle you desire. To understand this you need to understand how your current net worth needs to grow and over what time frame. You will need to understand how your income is likely to change and how your expenditure requirements will change. What if you lose time working due to illness or maternity leave? What impact will that have?

If you want to ensure your children have everything you wish them to have, what does that entail? Private education? How much will that be a term and for how long? Will it include university? How much will that be? What level of inflation do you account for? What about the deposit for a house? What is the average cost of a house in the area they wish to live? How have house prices been increasing? Will it require you to spend more time at home? If so, how much do you need to earn now to support you and your family when you are earning less?

So, if you have your own personal ambitions understand exactly what success looks like and what process needs to be followed in order to increase the likelihood of being successful.

More information on the importance of Financial Planning for legal professionals can be found in my free guide, ‘Taking Counsel: 10 Top Tips Every Legal Professional Needs to Know about Financial Planning’.

Andrew Neligan is a fee based, award winning, Chartered & Certified Financial Planner who helps legal professionals achieve their Financial Planning goals.

Picture courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net & Kenneth Cratty