Financial planning brings many long-term benefits for clients. For example, by building wealth for the future, they can live their ideal lifestyle in retirement, support their loved ones financially, and leave a legacy for the next generation.

What’s more, a robust plan is equally useful in the here and now, as it helps create financial resilience for your clients.

This may be more important than ever as cost of living increases and market volatility have created financial challenges, so the road ahead could be difficult as the global economy recovers.

According to research published by GoCompare at the end of 2024, 45% of Brits anticipated a tough financial year in 2025. The rising cost of living was the primary concern for 46% of those surveyed, while 30% worried about not having enough savings.

Fortunately, with the right planning, your clients can protect themselves from these challenges and continue building wealth for the future.

Here are three steps your clients can take to build financial resilience.

1. Save an emergency fund

Life can be unpredictable. Even if your clients have a detailed budget that they stick to, unexpected costs could make it difficult to manage their spending. For instance, if their car breaks down suddenly or they need to replace their boiler, they’ll have a large one-off expense to cover.

Without an emergency fund, they might have to rely on expensive borrowing to cover these costs if there is no room in their budget. The resulting repayments then eat into their budget moving forward and could mean they have less disposable income to save and invest for the future.

However, if they have a healthy emergency fund, they can absorb these costs without borrowing and keep their financial plan on track. Having a pot of cash savings could also help your clients maintain their financial stability if the cost of living rises, or they are out of work for a short period.

The general rule of thumb is to keep three months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund. However, your clients may feel more comfortable saving more than this.

It’s also important for them to review their emergency fund if their outgoings increase, such as taking on a more expensive mortgage, to ensure the amount is suitable for their new lifestyle.

2. Explore protection options for their family

An emergency fund can help with surprise expenses or bridge a small gap in income. Yet, life can sometimes present us with more significant challenges, and this is where protection is so valuable.

How long could your clients manage financially if they couldn’t work due to illness or injury? What position would they leave their family in if they passed away suddenly?

Income protection pays a regular monthly sum – usually a percentage of your client’s salary – until they’re able to return to work. They could use these funds to pay their general living expenses and continue contributing to pensions, savings, and investments. As a result, their financial plan may not be disrupted, even though they can’t work for a period.

Life insurance is equally valuable for protecting a client’s family in the event of their death. Their beneficiaries may receive a lump sum, which they can use to pay off the mortgage, cover general living expenses, or save for the future.

Consequently, your client’s family will have peace of mind that their finances are secure during a difficult time.

Overall, securing the right protection means that your client and their family can absorb serious financial shocks caused by illness or injury.

3. Invest for long-term growth

Cash savings could give your clients more financial resilience in the short term. Yet, if they want to maintain their quality of life in the future, investing could be important.

This is because inflation could erode the real-terms value of their cash savings. For example, if inflation is 2% – the Bank of England’s (BoE) annual target – the same goods and services that cost £1,000 a year ago would now cost £1,020.

While this may seem like a small increase, it effectively means that the spending power of your clients’ savings has fallen.

Also, as we’ve seen in recent years, inflation could climb much higher than 2%, and the effects of inflation add up over a longer period. Consequently, if your clients leave their wealth in a cash savings account for decades, they may lose financial resilience because the level of wealth they hold has fallen in real terms.

Investing could help clients avoid this situation by generating long-term growth that is more likely to beat inflation. For example, Curvo reports that between January 1999 and January 2025, the average annual return of the MSCI World Index – an index comprised of large- and mid-cap companies across 23 developed countries – was 7.69%.

In comparison, Moneyfacts reports that the highest interest rate on a two-year fixed-term Cash ISA on 12 March 2025 was 4.41%.

While past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns, these figures suggest that investing could help clients build financial resilience.

When building a portfolio, it’s crucial that they diversify their investments across different asset types and geographical regions. This may protect their investments against the effects of market volatility because losses on certain investments could be offset by gains elsewhere.

We can perform due diligence on investments and help your clients build a portfolio that aligns with their attitude to risk and their wider goals.

Get in touch

We can help your clients improve their ability to withstand financial shocks.

They can contact us at hello@ardentuk.com or call or WhatsApp us on 01904 655 330. As an award-winning financial advice company with advisers included in the 2024 VouchedFor Top Rated guide, you can be sure that we’re a bona fide company providing excellent advice and high-quality service.

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.

The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.

Note that financial protection plans typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.

Cover is subject to terms and conditions and may have exclusions. Definitions of illnesses vary from product provider and will be explained within the policy documentation.