Do you have a financial plan in place?

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP) makes a convincing case for, well, making a plan. But you don’t very well have time to sit down and take stock of your financial life. Do you?

You do, and you should, if only because the alternative is worse. And, truth be told, you don’t have to do it all on your own. You can hire a certified financial planner tomorrow, if you’d like, and outsource most of the legwork to them. 

Let’s set that aside for a moment and circle back to the “why” for a moment. Why exactly should you go assume the expense of hiring a professional financial planner to game out the money moves you’ll make over the course of your life? 

Because you can’t do it on your own, that’s why. If that’s not enough, consider these four arguments for making your financial plan, once and for all.

1. You Need a Source of (Friendly) Accountability

Think of your financial planner as a coach, or a cheerleader if you prefer. Either way: they’re in your corner, cheering you on and holding you accountable. Staying on the straight and narrow is that much more difficult without them.

2. Your Life Is Unique. Your Financial Plan Should Be, Too.

Don’t listen to the actuaries. You’re more than a number; your life is unique. Why shouldn’t your financial plan reflect that singularity?

Elite planning professionals like San Francisco financial planner Daniella Rand treat their clients like the individuals they are. If feeling valued is important to you as a client, as an investor, as a person, you owe it to yourself to work with someone like her.

3. Investing Is More Difficult Than You Realize.

Sure, you could pick six index funds out of a hat and call it good, but that wouldn’t be in your best financial interest. A comprehensive financial plan reveals the investing decisions best suited to growing and preserving your wealth for the long haul, whether your assets are professionally managed or not.

4. Retirement Is Complicated. So Is Saving For College.

You don’t know where you’re going to be in three years, let alone thirty. Better to begin planning today than to wake up tomorrow and wonder how you got here. With a financial planner by your side, you’ll have no surprises.

Is Your Financial Future in Good Hands?

Your financial planner is the best person to start you on the path that you must follow for years to come to reach your long-term financial objectives.

If that sounds big and important, it is. Your long-term financial objectives don’t simply concern the “nice to haves” you hope to enjoy in retirement, like a slopeside vacation home in Montana and a boat down in Florida, or an international vacation of a lifetime every year until you’re too sick to travel. They also include necessities, like keeping a roof over your head when you’re no longer able to work, and legacies that’ll endure long after you’re gone, such as providing a first-rate college education for your kids.

Look at it that way, and a professional financial plan is a small price to pay for peace of mind and security later in life. It’s time to make a plan — today.