Darren Smith is one of Premier’s Team Leaders, based in Manchester. With a background stretching from finance to psychology and teaching, he oversees the teams that look after your wealth. These are his three financial fitness tips to help you unlock the value in your finances.  

‘The future’ can feel very hard for us humans to visualise sometimes. It’s just such a big concept, full of unknowns, that when they start trying to think about it, people tend to generalise, and it all gets too broad very quickly, and so they put it aside. But thinking about your financial plans means thinking about the future! So people need a way to do that, but which helps them be structured and grounded.

Here’s something I’ve found works. When you want to think about your future, financially or just in terms of the life you see yourself leading and how to prepare for it, it’s often a good idea to start with one simple question, about your pension.

I use this, if it helps. I might ask a clients at the first meeting about their pension. Often, they say, ‘Yeah, I think have one,’ or, ‘Oh I’m all good on that front I think.’  But the key is to look at the timeline. So the next question is, well, do you know how much you actually paying into it? Or what it’s now worth, or how it’s growing, or what the rules or charges are, or the timescales around it? A lot of people don’t, but suddenly when you begin talking about it, the future becomes more clearly mapped out.

Because from this, it’s then easier to say, ‘OK, so be let's look at five years’ time: where would I like to be then? What would my ideal situation be? Does this get me there? If not, what shall we tweak? If so, what do I do then? And suddenly, you’ve got a future plan falling into place.

At this point, things start filling in. So if the answer to, ‘What then?’ is travel, then you can focus on the options for that. If it is retiring early, the same thing. 

This acronym is one of my favourite ways to help customers think about their finances, but also their lives and where they’re heading.

The thing is, so many people have different pots of money spread out and it’s not really working as hard as it could for them. You might have have more in savings and less invested than you might, and that’s potentially eroding your money. So I always advise people to think about dividing their money into three separate pots of gold, with the labels E, M and U.

E is ‘Expected’ – so what you expect to need, or spend, in the coming period. That might be a car or college expenses for your children, or investment on the house.

M stands for ‘Maybe’ – that’s contingency funds, which while you don’t already have them earmarked, you could do with having within reach just in case.

U stands for Unlikely. That’s money that you do not expect to need to access at any time soon.  That would be where the greatest opportunity lies for wealth creation and retention. It’s the one element that would do the real work for the customer and their goals.

If you think of it like that, and even being allowing for plenty of give with your estimates, you may well find that there are funds you can put into something longer term for higher growth such as investments, that you otherwise wouldn’t have identified. 

This is very common. Often I find that there are clients and customers who come to me are high achievers, and may have reached really senior positions in their industries.  They might even be heading up businesses and running the finances. But that doesn’t always translate into them being on top of their own personal financial picture, or having future plans mapped out.

Often, they’ll feel bad about that – but don’t! Nobody is superhuman. That’s literally what experts like my team at the Bank are here for.  We are here to put our time, our expertise and our energy to work on getting your financial future mapped out and in shape.

It can feel overwhelming even to someone who’s a hugely successful lawyer or CEO or doctor or whatever, to feel that they have to be on top of charges, favourable investments, everything. So you’d be surprised how often those things just get left. So I’d say, if that’s the case, just tell us. We’re here to be on top of not just what financial products will benefit you, but upcoming changes in your life and the landscape. And to put you ahead, to work on your behalf, so you don’t have to devote your energy trying to be across it all. 

Taking charge of your financial fitness doesn’t have to be daunting. With the right questions, tools and support, you can make confident decisions and shape a future that suits you, whatever your goals may be.

Please note: this content has been reviewed for accuracy; however, it does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bank.