There are times in the year when we see and engage with more people than usual – through end-of-year functions, annual celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, funerals and the like.

It can be wonderful – but it can also be stressful. We are quickly reminded that these old friends, colleagues and distant family from far-off shores have opinions that challenge our own, and they’re all too willing to offer unsolicited advice.

All these voices can be exhausting – especially if we’re already feeling a little burnt out or overwhelmed with what we feel we still need to accomplish. This is okay – we don’t have to take their advice too seriously, especially when it comes to managing our money.

You can choose to stick to listening to the voice of your trusted financial adviser and wealth management team. Actually, this is the best choice! When managing our finances, listening to too many voices can be treacherous to our financial plan.

It’s like when you’re buying a car; the more people you speak to, the more confused you’ll become. The same is true of your finances.

Working together, we want to create and follow a plan that helps you avoid common financial planning and investment mistakes in our relationship. This doesn’t happen once a year at a lunch party where the financial conversations tend to be rather superficial. This happens regularly and only after deeper conversations around meaning and purpose have been explored and brought into context by the money that you have.

Some of the high-level principles to keep in mind include the following:

   – Invest with a financial plan in place, don’t run an ad-hoc strategy

   – Invest in the correct products for your plan

   – Always remember the effects of inflation

   – Avoid spending your retirement savings when changing jobs

   – Let your emotions subside, then decide

So – what voices will you be listening to? When someone has skills, experience and qualifications that can help you AND has spent time understanding your needs and helping you put a plan in place that reflects your goals and risk appetite – you listen to their voice. Not only does it begin to echo your own, it will also help you articulate what’s important to you.