Alison Lane is a very experienced financial planner. In her webinar last year, she gave some very solid advice on the financial side of freelancing, as well as a comprehensive overview of protection and planning for self-employed professionals.
Although the examples she gave were more specific to the United Kingdom, any freelancer could apply these principles to their financial situation.
Alison went over the different life-stages we might face and stressed that there are different things to think about depending on our age.
She then highlighted how to set about achieving some of the following goals:
20s
- Sticking to a budget
- Protection in case of illness
- Saving for a house deposit
- Starting a pension
30s
- Building an emergency pot of money
- Writing a will and getting life insurance cover
- Starting a pension (if you have not started one already)
- Saving for children or any other large expense
40s
- Reviewing your plans
- Planning for retirement
- Other options available to you
50s
- Assessing your life goals and risks
- Focusing on retirement
- Investments and pensions
- Will writing
60s
- Tax planning
- Drawing your pension
- Equity release
- Downsizing
She emphasised that having a plan is especially important for freelancers as it enables us to keep track of where we are headed over the course of our careers.
She also gave some great advice on how to choose a financial advisor, and provided links to various web resources such as budget and pension calculators.
