When Did You Last Review Your Finances? A Financial MOT Checklist

We regularly service our cars, review our insurance and renew our mortgages.

But when did you last properly review your finances?

It is easy for pensions, savings, investments and protection policies to sit untouched for years, especially when life is busy.

A regular financial review can help you understand whether your current arrangements still suit your circumstances and whether you are on track for the future you want.

Think of it as a financial MOT.

1. Review Your Pensions

If you have changed jobs over the years, you may have several workplace pensions with different providers.

Ask yourself:

• Do I know where all my pensions are?

• Do I know how much they are worth?

• Are they invested appropriately?

• Am I contributing enough?

• Do I know what income they may provide in retirement?

It is also worth remembering that combining pensions is not always the right option.

Some pensions may have valuable benefits or guarantees attached, so it is important to understand what you have before making changes.

2. Check Your Savings and Investments

Savings and investments should usually have a purpose.

That might be building an emergency fund, saving for a future purchase, supporting your children or planning for retirement.

Review where your money is held and ask whether it still reflects your goals.

You may also want to consider whether you are holding too much cash for the long term, whether your investments still match your attitude to risk and whether your money is spread appropriately.

3. Review Your Protection

Protection is one of those areas people often arrange once and then forget about.

But your circumstances may have changed significantly since you last reviewed it.

You may have:

• Moved home

• Increased your mortgage

• Had children

• Changed jobs

• Started a business

• Increased your income

Life insurance, income protection and other policies should reflect your current situation, not the life you had several years ago.

4. Look at Your Mortgage and Borrowing

Your mortgage is likely to be one of your biggest financial commitments.

Check when your current mortgage deal ends, what interest rate you are paying and whether any other borrowing could be reviewed.

It is particularly important to look ahead before a fixed mortgage rate expires rather than leaving decisions until the last minute.

5. Think About Retirement

Retirement can feel a long way away until suddenly it does not.

Rather than focusing only on the amount in your pension, think about the bigger questions.

When would you ideally like to stop working?

What might you want your retirement to look like?

How much income could you need?

Could you afford to retire earlier than you currently expect?

Financial planning can help turn retirement from a vague future goal into something much easier to understand.

6. Review Your Estate Planning

It is also worth checking what would happen to your finances if you were no longer here.

Do you have an up-to-date will?

Have you reviewed your beneficiaries?

Do you have appropriate arrangements in place for your family?

Do you have a potential Inheritance Tax liability?

Estate planning can easily be postponed, but keeping it up to date can make things much simpler for the people you care about.

7. Ask Whether Your Goals Have Changed

Perhaps the most important part of any financial review is asking whether your life still looks the way you expected it to.

Your priorities at 30 may look very different at 40, 50 or 60.

You may now want to:

• Retire earlier

• Work fewer hours

• Move home

• Help your children financially

• Grow or sell a business

• Travel more

• Build a larger financial cushion

Your financial plan should change as your life changes.

When Should You Have a Financial Review?

There is no single rule, but reviewing your finances regularly can help you stay on top of changes before they become bigger issues.

It is particularly worth reviewing things after a major life event such as changing job, moving home, receiving an inheritance, starting a family, growing a business or planning for retirement.

Even if nothing significant has changed, an annual financial check-in can help you make sure everything is still working towards the same goal.

Let Brancaster House Give Your Finances a Health Check

At Brancaster House Financial Planning, we help individuals, families and business owners across Norwich and Norfolk take a clearer view of their finances.

Our independent financial advisers can review areas including pensions, investments, retirement planning, mortgages, protection and wider financial planning.

Rather than looking at each area separately, we help you understand how everything fits together.

Because sometimes the most useful financial question is simply:

“Am I on track?”

Our complimentary Financial Health Check gives you the opportunity to review your current position, talk through your goals and identify any areas that may need attention.

Book your complimentary Financial Health Check and give your finances their own MOT.

We’re here for every chapter.