Longterm modeling of your assets and financial needs assesses the ability of your portfolio to meet short and long term needs irrespective of natural financial and economic risks; recessions and stock market crashes or bear markets are natural risks and are certain to happen.

Is there enough capital to support lifetime income and capital expenditure? Can he or she meet school fees, retire at 60, purchase a holiday home, leave capital to children. If not, what course of action should be taken?

Many investors may also risk depleting capital over time . Modeling the ability of assets to meet needs is key to the management of this risk and to educating the client over the consequences and risks of their financial decisions.

This long term modeling is also a framework against which an investor can make realistic investment and lifestyle decisions. It is the investor through his or her objectives and risk aversions that selects the portfolio, not the advisor or portfolio manager.

What many fail to appreciate, is that you cannot structure a portfolio, or plan for the needs of an investor at each point in time without first assessing needs over the client’s lifetime.

Decisions regarding your portfolio and what you decide to take from it cannot be made on a day by day basis.

This type of modeling is more advanced and involved than traditional simple compound interest calculations. If done properly, stock market crashes and economic recessions should not impact on your financial security.  This of course depends on your advisors investment planning discipline and the assumptions he or she uses in the modelling and management of your financial assets and financial needs.

It is critical that where modelling of the ability of your assets to meet needs is provided, that the assumptions that are used to do this analysis are provided and, that the assumptions can cope with economic and stock market risks.

Much modelling prior to the 2000 to 2003 bear market failed to take these risks into consideration.