We all wish that our financial plans and goals could be impervious to the impact of current events, but COVID-19 has certainly made it necessary for some of us to draw up new game plans and readjust. Gary Scheer, an expert in the financial advising space, knows that the financial sector has been hard at work since the beginning of the pandemic to assist individuals with all the logistical steps for weathering the storm. Here, Gary Scheer provides a couple of ways that a financial advising expert can keep assist with some of the financial pressures inherent to the economic impact of the virus.
Gary Scheer acknowledges that one of the simplest, and most effective, ways that a financial advisor can assist during the current landscape is by re-evaluating an individual’s existing financial plan. An unfortunate reality of the fall out of events like the current health crisis is many will have to readjust and adapt to the changes. Some may need to take precautions such as lower spending in certain discretionary areas, tapping into emergency reserves, or slightly changing their plans for retirement. Others that may not be heavily affected financially may still need to make changes to their existing plan because of the impact COVID-19 has had on markets’ momentum. While this may be a hard conversation for those that were “on track” in terms of their financial goals, Gary Scheer recognizes that the conversation may not be as stressful as imagined. A financial advisor can help take everything into account and point out ways that you can continue towards the goals that you have set, even if you need to take a few detours along the way.
Inherently tied to revisiting the financial plan, financial advisors can also help individuals make the necessary changes to their budget. There are multiple ways that an advisor and their client could attack budget changes depending on the given situation necessitating them. In tougher financial times, an advisor may recommend making cuts to certain areas that will not drastically reduce an individual’s quality of life over the duration of the health crisis. Gary Scheer is of the belief that a plan that is truly useful in context must be practical. This means that, while drastic changes may be what is necessary in severe cases, in most they are not preferable. After all, large temporary cuts will need to be revisited and may not be able to be kept up over time without sacrificing one’s quality of life. Instead, smaller changes to a budget that can be maintained permanently or over a long period of time can be preferable.
