If you don’t have a proper financial plan for your retirement, you’re most likely planning to retire in poverty. If you make a financial plan for yourself, and stick with it, you will not only be able to retire comfortably, you’ll probably also be able to live much better during the majority of your working life.

If you want to find out more about how a financial advisor can help you and what qualities to look for in a good financial advisor, read this: What is a Financial Advisor? It is not the responsibility of a financial mentor, financial advisor or financial coach, or anybody else, to make you reach your financial goals.

The financial industry managed to get quite a bad reputation in South Africa, because many people were calling themselves “financial advisors”, while they were actually nothing more than product peddlers. If you would like to learn more about what you can expect from a good financial advisor, and what qualities to look for in a good financial advisor, you can read this article that explains what a financial advisor is.

A financial advisor, or financial planner, is someone who provides financial advice, as a professional service, i.e. Your financial advisor will start by asking you questions, and getting information from you, to determine things like: how much money you earn, and how you earn your money, what your financial obligations are, what people are dependent on you to provide for them, how much risk you can and are prepared to take with your investments, what assets, investments, etc., you currently have, what insurance policies, medical cover, etc., you currently have, and what your goals are in life.