Get back on the road toward your goals with the help of a financial planner.
You’re driving along the highway, heading to a beautiful bach on the coast. The car is loaded up and ready for a good long holiday, and you’re comfortably enjoying the scenery as you cruise along, hands resting lazily on the wheel.
Then, all of a sudden, your car starts to sputter and stall, before grinding to a halt altogether halfway up a hill in the middle of nowhere.
‘This wasn’t supposed to happen’, you think, ‘What the hell do I do now?'
Sound familiar? If you’ve lost your income this year, you may recognise this feeling: shock from the abrupt loss of control, uncertainty about what to do next, and frustration at there being no clear easy-fix.
But when your car stops in the middle of nowhere, you know what to do, don’t you? You call for help.
A “breakdown” in your career is no different - when you find yourself facing redundancy or a sudden loss of revenue, the best thing to do to get back on the road is to call for help.
New Zealand Financial Planning (NZFP) guides Kiwis through life’s ups and downs toward financial wellbeing - a state of comfort in their finances that allows for greater freedom to live the life they want.
Let us be your mechanic, and get you back on the road to your destination.
What to do when things break down.
It’s natural to experience a range of emotions when things don’t go the way you’d planned.
“People are in this position of being overwhelmed by what has suddenly happened. The shock hits them, and they freeze, not knowing the next path to go to… they’re like a possum in headlights.”
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John Stickly, Air NZ Union
But don’t panic. The fastest way out of an unplanned situation is to get back to the drawing board and start creating a new one.
When you’re made redundant, it can feel like a lot is out of your hands, but making the choice to create a new future for yourself puts you back in the driver’s seat.
Through awareness of your current situation and planning for your future, you are able to restore your choices, your confidence, and control of your path.
Redundancy is a valuable time to reassess what you want and where you want to be headed. Perhaps there’s a better road you could take?
Life coach Vicky Evans has experienced two redundancies, both of which forced her to explore different avenues and look further afield than she’d planned. The first saw her move home from London to Newcastle in her mid-30’s to start a new job, while the second allowed her to receive a good payout that she used to train in a new industry and set up a business for herself in New Zealand.
“The first one was terrible, one of the worst times of my whole life. But it also changed my life entirely - from there I went into a new job, I met my husband, and had children. If I hadn’t been in that bad situation, I wouldn’t have ended up where I was.
The second time, I took voluntary redundancy as I was on maternity leave and planning a second child. I worked with a financial planner and invested my lump sum, saving it for a rainy day or important investment. That investment was myself - training as a life coach changed my life and enabled me to set up a thriving business in New Zealand that I can run around my children.”
- Vicky Evans, Life Coach
How to get back on the road.
Once you know where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to start finding the best route to get there.
A financial adviser can guide you through creating a new plan based on your values. They’ll sit with you to figure out the steps you need to take in order to live the life you want, and how to sustain that lifestyle for the long term.
With a financial plan, you can:
- See what’s possible, and what it would take to reach those outcomes.
- Remove the fear of uncertainty that’s holding you still.
- Ensure you can enjoy a fulfilling retirement on the assets you already have.
“It’s about remembering your goals and focussing on what’s important - it’s about the life you want to live. The past is the past and you can’t change it, but you can control some aspects of your future.
Productive planning toward your future can restore your sense of control and direction. It may seem difficult, but getting on top of your finances can be very liberating.”
- Gwen Hoople
Financial Adviser, NZFP
Reaching your destination - the bach by the sea.
“We know that life is always going to send you some curveballs, some in a good way and some in a bad way. Life always changes. So, we plan as best we can, we prepare for changes, and then we identify gaps in that preparedness. If our clients are made redundant, it would be tragic but they’ve been coached by us to set aside some emergency funds which they can tap into to tide them over for exactly this kind of event.”
- Gwen Hoople
Financial Adviser, NZFP
Just like how a mechanic knows exactly where to look in your engine, an objective financial adviser can identify the parts of your situation that will make the most impact, and help you to see the places where changes can be made to maximise your lifestyle for the long run.
We don’t make decisions for you or tell you how to live - we empower you to make the best decisions for yourself, according to your own goals and values.
