Why ongoing financial advice could ease your mental load

Handling finances is a part of life and something that most people do, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t stressful. Indeed, many people don’t feel confident making financial decisions, and financial advice could ease their mental load. 

Even when you’re relatively comfortable, managing your finances can be a cause of concern. Indeed, you might find it even more stressful as you may be considering how to reduce tax liability or how to make use of allowances to pass on wealth to your loved ones.

Worries about the future are common too. You may feel confident in your ability to handle your finances now, but what would happen if you faced a financial shock? Or how will you manage your finances when you retire, and you may no longer receive a reliable income?

Fears about the future could harm your mental wellbeing and mean you don’t enjoy the things that are important to you.

While you might think of financial planning as a way to grow your wealth, the non-financial benefits are often just as valuable. Read on to find out how we can help. 

A financial plan could give you confidence in the future

A survey published in IFA Magazine in January 2025 found more than half of over-55s – the equivalent of 10.5 million people – are worried their retirement savings won’t last their lifetime. Only 27% of those surveyed said they weren’t concerned about running out of money.

It’s not just retirement that can cause money worries either. 

As a worker, you might worry about how you’d meet essential costs if you became too ill to work, or as a parent, you might want to set aside a financial safety net for your family in case the worst should happen. 

As life is unpredictable, effectively managing your finances to ensure you’ll be secure in the future can be difficult. We can work with you to help you understand how the decisions you make now could affect your security in the future.

A cashflow model provides a way to visualise how your wealth will change over time – this is your Financial Plan. 

We start by inputting the details of your assets now, and the actions you’re taking, such as how much you’re adding to your pension each month or the amount you plan to add to a Stocks and Shares ISA each year. In addition, you can estimate factors like investment returns. 

With this data, your Financial Plan can predict how the value of assets may change during your lifetime.

If you’re worried about your finances, your Financial Plan can be particularly useful for calculating how financial shocks would affect you.

For example, we might use it to see how needing to retire five years earlier than expected due to ill health would affect your retirement income. Or, if you stopped non-essential outgoings, such as money into a savings account, because you’re unable to work, how that could affect long-term plans.

Understanding how your finances might be affected by these shocks could mean you’re able to take steps to secure your long-term finances. You might decide to take out appropriate financial protection or increase your pension contributions now to create a safety net and offer you peace of mind. 

The outcomes of a Financial Plan cannot be guaranteed, but it can provide a useful overview of how your finances might change and highlight potential gaps, which provides an opportunity to close them. 

A Financial Plan relies on accurate information, regularly updating the data is important. 

Working with a financial planner could enable you to focus on what’s important to you

According to a February 2025 survey from Moneybox, just a third of UK adults said they feel very confident in managing their personal finances. In fact, 64% believe they’ve missed out on financial opportunities in life due to a lack of financial knowledge and low confidence. 

The financial world can seem like it’s filled with jargon, acronyms, and complexities to wrap your head around. So, it’s not surprising that many people don’t feel confident making decisions.  

By working with a financial planner, you have someone to turn to when you don’t understand something or aren’t sure what the right choice for you is. The reassurance of knowing someone is there for you could ease financial stress.

The cognitive and emotional effort to plan, anticipate, prepare, and organise your finances may create a mental load that you struggle to manage, even when you’re confident about financial matters. 

So, you might choose to work with a financial planner in a way that allows you to take a hands-off approach, with us reviewing assets like your investments or pension on your behalf, with regular reviews. 

Handing over these tasks might mean you’re able to focus on what’s most important to you, whether that’s spending time with your family, working your way up the career ladder, or pursuing a passion. 

Contact us to talk about your financial plan

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of financial planning and find out how we could support you, please get in touch. 

Please note:

This blog is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice, which should be based on your individual circumstances. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. 

The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.  

Note that financial protection plans typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.

Reviews and Ratings for Financial adviser Ray Martin, Kingston-upon-Thames

We’re highly rated

We retain a 5-star rating on VouchedFor, an independent service that enables clients to review their professional advisers. VouchedFor verifies the reviews and testimonials we receive, so you can be confident that they are authentic. 2018, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 Top Rated Adviser, as listed in The Times

Read More

Our former financial adviser was retiring and recommended Ray to us. He alleviated the constant worry of where to best invest our savings without too much risk. We’re very pleased with the results over the last 10 years. He explains things in layman's language, which we appreciate, and gives us the confidence we have made the right choices. What more can people expect?

Kathleen

We had pension policies and investments that needed sorting out ready for retirement. We didn't know what to expect from a financial adviser. We assumed that he would simply advise us where to get the best deals. How wrong we were. Ray took us right back to basics. He made us carefully consider what we really wanted to achieve. He has allowed us to start to really enjoy our retirement.

Michael

I needed financial advice about pensions and investments as I approached retirement. My wife was in the same position. Ray Martin worked out a comprehensive plan for putting my pension provision and savings into proper order. He did the same for my wife. He has continued to provide us with advice ever since. Ray is always straightforward, open and proactive.

Laurence

I was approaching retirement and wanting to look into limiting taxation and Inheritance Tax, as well as providing for my wife. Ray provided sound advice to switch from my current arrangement to a Drawdown Pension and ISA investments. I have now retired and have started seeing the benefits of his advice. The returns on my portfolio have increased beyond expectation. Ray performed extremely well.

Demetri

I had sold my house and didn't know how to invest the money. Ray invested very wisely and there has been about a 5% increase every year. He listened to our queries, gave answers that we fully understood and followed any requests. He always had time for us, and never rushed us. We would have been financially at a loss without his help.

Brian

Ray has been advising my wife and me for about 20 years. He is everything one could hope for in a financial adviser: wonderfully enthusiastic, extremely well informed, completely trustworthy and scrupulously observant of the regulatory requirements. He is able to explain complex matters very clearly, and so far, his advice has always been first class.

Oliver

I had money to invest and had no idea how to go about investing it and hopefully making a gain. I have three children and wanted advice about inheritance planning. Ray is very patient, very clear when he explains things, he is very interested in me as a person, totally trustworthy and is an excellent listener. We have never been disappointed! He`s been brilliant.

Rosie

I had just been widowed. Ray sorted out and simplified what was a very complex set of investments into a much less confusing portfolio. I have been extremely happy with everything Ray has advised over the last 12 years. Whilst moving with the times, he has dealt with all aspects of my investments wisely and given me all the guidance and help I have needed.

Pat

As the financial director of a company, I was seeking to get advice on how to plan and invest for retirement. Without a doubt, Ray Martin helped me understand and plan how to fund my retirement. Ray has been with me every step of the way. His advice has been invaluable. I retired and achieved my annual income goal. His continued advice is helping me in the next stage of my life.

Mike

I needed some advice regarding my late mother’s estate. I had also retired and required advice on how to manage my private pension. Ray was extremely helpful, and his advice was very clear and easy to understand. I came away from our initial meeting feeling very relieved and less stressed. We have just had our first yearly review and I was surprised how well my investments had done.

Jane

In the last 10 years, my circumstances have changed with the passage of time. Ray has guided me on how to protect and make my money grow. He listens carefully to my needs and gives clear, concise advice in a professional manner. He and his team are always accessible and patient with my questions and their approach gives me confidence that my finances are securely looked after.

Glenys

Client stories

Mike

Planning for retirement

An accountant by trade, Mike knew the value of seeking the help of a financial professional when it came to planning for his eventual retirement. Here’s his story.

Read More

Oliver & Rosie

Peace of mind in retirement

Oliver and Rosie have found the financial peace of mind they needed to enjoy retirement to the full. Here’s their story.

Read More

Four Seasons
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.