When you first contact us your email or telephone call will usually be answered by Joanne Bosworth, our Office Manager. She will ask for a few details about you and your reasons for getting in touch. If it sounds like we can help, we will arrange a convenient date and time for you to come in and meet one of our financial planners, Richard Fyfe or Stephen Fyfe. If it doesn’t sound like we’re the right people to help you, we’ll try to point you in the right direction instead.
Your first meeting is really just a chance for us to get to know each other a little better in a relaxed environment to see if we can work together going forward. It will be held at our office on Ecclesall Road South in Sheffield and provided at our own cost. Your prospective financial planner, Richard or Stephen, will usually be accompanied by Caroline Barr or Joe Wood, our Client Relationship Managers, who will also become your first point of contact if you go on to become a client.
During our first meeting we will try to learn a bit more about you, any financial concerns you might have and your aspirations for the future. We will also be happy to answer any questions you might have. These meetings usually last for between 30 minutes and an hour and hopefully by the end will know whether we’re likely to be a good fit for each other.
We recognise that it’s difficult to understand the true value of financial ‘life’ planning until you have experienced it and this is why we don’t ask you to commit to become a client at the end of our first meeting. Instead, we will invite you to undertake the initial stages of the financial planning process at our own cost, so we can demonstrate to you the value we can provide.
In order to build a clearer picture of your current financial position we will ask you to complete a ‘Confidential Factfind’. This document is usually completed via an online questionnaire. However, a paper copy can be provided if you would find this easier to complete.
The first stage of your financial planning journey will be our Exploration Meeting. This is where we will ask more about your story so far, what you’re hoping to achieve and what keeps you up at night worrying. It’s crucial that we understand your values and motivations in life, what matters most to you and what it will take for you to look back in twenty years’ time without any regrets. This vital insight enables us to picture what a great life looks like for you and helps us to build a robust financial plan to underwrite a truly fulfilling retirement.
Our Financial Planning Meeting is where we take all the information you have provided to us so far and build your financial forecast using our financial planning software. We build in all the things you told us were most important to you and we will be able to see whether you are on track to reach your goals. We will also be able to show you the action you need to take to make what matters most to you affordable over the long-term.
Shortly after your financial planning meeting we will provide you with a ‘One-Page Financial Plan’ which is a simple way of documenting the key points that were discussed at our meeting. Your one page financial plan is yours to keep whether or not you go on to become a client.
We believe that the planning is more important than the plan. This is because even the most meticulously planned journey can veer off track and it’s crucial to continually adapt as ‘life happens’ along the way. So whilst there is great value in the financial plan we will provide to you at no cost, we believe the real value lies in the ongoing planning we are able to provide across a long-term relationship. We hope that you will agree and trust that when we contact you shortly after your financial planning meeting you will choose to engage us as your financial planner and trusted adviser going forward.
Should you choose to proceed with our services, our monthly fees will be payable form this point forwards for an initial 12 months period. More information about our monthly fees can be found on the ‘Our Fees’ page
