John Whitehead – a passion for cashflow

Written by John Whitehead

What is a Visual Lifestyle Cashflow Plan and how does it help?

In its simplest form, our Visual Cashflow Plan illustrates how much money our clients will have available to spend at anyone time throughout their lives. 

And as the accumulation of wealth has no real value unless we exchange it for something, introducing a Lifestyle Cashflow Plan allows us to take a deep dive into our long term financial future.

Such careful planning can help ensure we will have adequate money to meet our lifestyle needs – or as our Lifestyle Cashflow Manager, John Whitehead, says: ‘It enables us to get busy living!’

Director & Chartered Financial Planner, Gemma Darcy, explains the service

John elaborates on what’s involved creating a personalised Lifestyle Cashflow Plan

Colourful graph illustrating Liquid Assets in their simplest form

At the outset of any presentation to our clients, John emphasises that although he uses the information we hold today to view our future lifestyle potential, naturally this is not set in stone – it can only be our future lifestyle of today. However, by utilising an interactive Visual Cashflow Plan as part of our Financial Planning Strategy, it really empowers us to be in full control of our long term decision making.

Colourful graph illustrating Cashflow details

Our Visual Cashflow Plan Simplifies the Complex

A detailed analysis of our income and expenditure gives instant clarification on exactly what is essential and what is lifestyle spend. At a glance it enables us to highlight any potential future shortfalls that could occur as we journey through our age-related milestones. It also allows us to build in larger financial commitments, such as replacing a car, taking an adventurous holiday, educating our children, etc.

Client experience of the Visual Lifestyle Cashflow Plan

Designed to reassure

‘Naturally, the work involved in producing this type of financial cashflow is complex and detailed,’ explains John. “It’s a case of sifting through all types of incomes and assets – including pensions and savings – in order to make predictions based on some modest assumptions. However, by combining figures with interactive graphics, it means we can deliver the results to our clients in a meaningful way.’

Client experience of the Visual Lifestyle Cashflow Plan

Shines a light

‘I love maths, but it can be such a dry subject’, says John, smiling. ‘Also our clients are inevitably ‘time poor’, so by creating an interactive, colourful visual aide, it helps speed up the comprehension process. It’s also proved to be a more entertaining way to deliver information to our clients.’ ‘I believe in taking a light hearted approach as it means we can celebrate the future together. Even if there’s bad news at some point and the graph turns red, it shines a light on where this is and allows us the time to make adjustments, or even to change direction.’

Client experience of the Visual Lifestyle Cashflow Plan

A route map not a destination

‘However, I’m also known as Captain Cautious as I always err on the safe side when analysing future interest rates’, continues John. ’Regular financial planning reviews using our Visual Lifestyle Cashflow Plan, means we can help guide our clients towards a financially secure future; it’s a route map not a destination. This means they can continue to enjoy their lifestyle in retirement, along with one of the most valuable currencies of all – time.’

Client experience of the Visual Lifestyle Cashflow Plan

Discover more

The Visual Cashflow Plan client meetings are normally (but not exclusively) held online using Zoom with both John Whitehead and Director of Darcy Financial Planning, Gemma Darcy. If you’d like to hear more about how our Visual Cashflow Plan could help your financial journey, why not get in touch with our Director, Gemma Darcy, for a no obligation chat. Just call 07973 519968 or email.

Graphs are for illustrative purposes only.
Past performance is not indicative of future performance.Fund values fluctuate and can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invested.
St. James’s Place guarantees the suitability of the advice given by members of the St. James’s Place Partnership when recommending any of the wealth management products and services available from companies in the Group, more details of which are set out on the Group’s website at www.sjp.co.uk/products

Related Articles

Related

Why I chose to follow Darcy Financial Planning Ltd’s pension advice

A Client’s Story: “After discussing my options in detail with Gemma, I realised my current company pension, like most generic employer-provided Defined Benefit schemes, assume you will use your fund to buy an annuity and progressively de-risk your investments as you approach retirement. This is not necessarily appropriate if you have a mixture of pension pots or intend to use your investments on a draw-down basis, in which case a significant proportion of your pension remains invested for 20 years or more.”

read more