Certified Financial Planner™ Simon Brady Believes The Pandemic Can Provide An Opportunity For People To Take Control Of Their Financial Future

June 04 23:54 2020
In this interview, Simon shares why now is a good time to start planning and get your finances in order.

The unexpected pandemic and its financial consequences is understandably causing many people to consider using a personal financial planner. Whether you are a recent graduate who has no idea when or how to start paying down loans while also saving for retirement, a newly-married couple expecting your first child and all the financial upheaval that comes with that, or you have lost your income due to COVID-19, certified personal financial wisdom is absolutely critical right now. But how do you find a qualified, trustworthy expert professional who is not going to just take advantage of you to hit their quota of financial product sales and commissions?

Simon Brady, CFP® is a New York-based personal finance consultant who has spent decades in the sharp end of financial markets and who now owns and operates a financial planning firm that specifically helps individuals, couples and families in their 20s, 30s and early 40s who want help managing their personal finances and/or investments. 

He is also the go-to financial planner for foreign nationals living and working in the US on visas and green cards. Indeed, as an original expat from the UK himself, he has first-hand knowledge of the particular legal and financial issues that may prove to be a challenge for newly-arriving non-citizens.

“Suddenly Single”individuals aged 50 and younger, those just coming out of divorce or widowhood represent another demographic with whom Simon has a specialty in working. He is particularly able to help when the individual was not the partner in the relationship who handled most of the household personal finances and may be completely overwhelmed at the prospect of having to handle all this alone.  

“The financial fallout of this pandemic is a reminder to people that financial markets are inherently totally unpredictable in the short term and personal circumstances can change dramatically in a very short period of time and that those who had a plan in place coming into this that are the ones who are going to come out of it in the best position,” says Simon.

Simon works with his clients not only on their portfolio construction and investment strategy, but also discusses estate planning, retirement planning and workplace benefits, insurance, real estate, debt management solutions as well as immigration and divorce resources where appropriate. He provides a variety of options when it comes to working with him, but the most popular is a per-hour rate plan where you can come to him for as much or as little financial planning and investment help as you need. 

Whatever option is selected, it is important to know that, as a Registered Investment Advisor, the firm does not take any commissions from third-parties and will not sell you any products or policies. As a full-time fiduciary, it is his legal and ethical obligation to ALWAYS act in what he believes to be his clients’ best interests when it comes to making recommendations of any kind or investment advice. Ask your typical financial advisor at a bank or brokerage firm if they are always under that best interest fiduciary obligation. Spoiler: they aren’t!

Engagements are accomplished through personalized individual sessions (in normal times, these can be in-person but during the present pandemic are remotely conducted via video-call) and focus on getting to know the goals, dreams and fears of the client and, based on that, create a road map towards a solid financial future. Simon also has an extensive network of high-quality financial and legal professionals that he can bring in to assist in any situation.

“By far the most important consideration in the current challenging market environment is to hoard as much cash and liquid assets as you can – preferably in a High Yield Savings Account, in case this whole thing goes on for a lot longer than projected. Illiquid assets tied up in real estate or insurance policies with high surrender charges are not going to be any help if we are locked down for many more months and bills need to be paid. If the worst projections do not come about, then the left-over hoarded cash can then be invested at that time,” says Simon.

The effects of COVID-19 created chaos in world markets and the resulting 25-30% or more drop in stock values may have proved catastrophic to anyone close to heading into retirement and who, for some reason, still had a heavy exposure to the stock market. Simon is a huge believer, however, that for those with a time horizon that can be viewed in literally decades, (that’s you, people in your 20s, 30s and early 40s saving for retirement!) this should be a time to be opportunistic and, to the extent possible, max out exposure to low-cost index stock funds, either in a 401k at work, a Traditional or Roth IRA or even a plain old brokerage account. 

“As long as you are comfortable with your level of cash – and ONLY  as long as you are – then you should focus on the other extreme end of the timeline, you retirement and really long term accounts since, if you have been correctly allocated, these are the accounts that will have the highest and most diversified allocation to stock funds and will benefit the most over a very long period of time. Just try to imagine the investment advice your 65-year-old self would give you right now if they could!” says Simon.

According to Simon, this is also an opportunity to focus on other vital parts of your personal financial picture. Do you have an estate plan in place, is your credit card debt under control, are your investments tax-optimized, do you have too little or too much life insurance, are you being realistic in your real estate goals, are you taking full advantage of your workplace benefits, are your banks and savings institutions doing right by you? These questions may be particularly important if you are a young couple, new parents, a foreign national or someone who is “suddenly single”. A qualified CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ like Simon can talk with you about all these issues and more.

So if the pandemic has alerted you to a need to re-set or begin to organize your personal finances, Simon is the trusted, qualified professional that you need to work with. Personable, supremely dependable and available to sit down and determine your most successful course of action, Simon will never take a commission or sell you a product or policy. 100% of his compensation for any engagement is the fee paid by the client and therefore 100% of his obligation and focus lies with that client. If you have a family member or good friend who is heading into or experiencing a financially challenging period of life, Anglia Advisors even has gift cards available that you can use to get them consultations with Simon.  

Make Anglia Advisors your first stop on the journey towards financial freedom and security, and Simon is the expert you need to help plan that journey. 

Media Contact
Company Name: Anglia Advisors
Contact Person: Simon Brady, CFP®
Email: Send Email
Phone: (646) 713 2225
Address:360 W 31st Street
City: New York
State: NY
Country: United States
Website: https://www.angliaadvisors.com/

view more articles

About Article Author