Why You Should Share Your Vision Board With Your Financial Advisor

Creating a vision board is a highly effective mental exercise that’s a fun way to focus on what you want to achieve in life.

Whether you’re saving images of your vision for a dream wedding, home or baby nursery or pinning the far reaches of the globe you’d like to visit, creating a visual representation of your goals can help you see how you want to experience life.

The difference between these gorgeous images and the reality of them materializing in real life is the intentionality you bring. Creating a vision board is great, but bringing it to life is even better. And believe it or not, when you build a vision board, you’re taking the first step in financial planning — setting goals for what you want in life.

And that’s exactly why you should share your vision board with your financial advisor. An advisor can take those images and help you understand what it might cost to bring your vision to reality. Then the advisor can help with financial strategies that can give you confidence that you’re on track to reach your goals.

Turning your vision into a financial plan

Whether you’re focused on a single goal or several, an advisor can start with your vision board. Your advisor will look at all aspects of your financial situation. While people often think of financial planning as something that looks only at far-off goals, that’s not always the case. In fact, at Northwestern Mutual, our advisors look at both and help you to balance what you need for the future with things that you want in the present.

Everything in one place

Seeing everything in one place can give you confidence that you’re on track for future goals, which can actually free you to spend more today. With a financial plan:

• You’ll have a clearer picture of how to save, spend and grow your money. Whether you’re planning for a wedding, your next family vacation or even your retirement, your finances are intertwined. An advisor can look at your income, your needs and the timeline for each of your priorities and goals and help you figure out the smartest way to allocate your money toward each of them. In addition, your advisor can show you how to use different types of financial products and accounts to your advantage.
• You’ll have strategies to protect your finances. If there’s anything the past few years have taught us, it’s to be prepared for the unexpected. A plan can show you how much to keep in an emergency fund, and it can help you determine how much insurance you’ll need to protect your family should something happen to you or your ability to work. Protecting your finances gives you the assurance and confidence that you can pursue what you want today even if something unexpected comes your way. 
• You’ll have a way to manage debt. Most of us have some debt. It can feel like a drag, especially if it’s the first thing that comes to mind when you want to go buy that thing you just pinned. But if you have a plan to manage your debt and know you’re making the right progress, then you shouldn’t be worried about spending the money that’s left over. A financial advisor can help with strategies to pay your debt down.
• You can build out a plan for your retirement. When you’re dreaming about onesies or a resort that overlooks the Mediterranean, retirement might seem eons away. But this is one of the biggest goals that many people save for. A financial plan can help you to see that you’re on track for retirement, giving you peace of mind about the money that you’re spending today.

Whether it’s saving more (or less) for retirement or spending on that big trip this month, the goal of a financial plan is to make sure you’re reaching your financial goals and feeling good about them when you get there. That’s how a financial plan helps to bring you closer to your goals.

Not all Northwestern Mutual representatives are advisors. Only those representatives with “Advisor” in their title or who otherwise disclose their status as an advisor of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (NMWMC) are credentialed as NMWMC representatives to provide advisory services.