Receiving your first payslip when you start working as a doctor is a wonderful feeling. When this happens, your thoughts may turn to your financial situation – but is it too soon to seek advice?
Dr Zarni Khan decided that getting specialist financial advice at the start of her career was the right move for her. Here she explains how the experience benefitted her financial goals.
After years of slogging away as a medical student, I was delighted to finally receive my payslip at the end of my first month of work.
However, it soon dawned on me that while medical school had rigorously prepared me for my day-to-day job as a doctor, it hadn’t taught me the slightest thing about managing my finances.
Tax, ISAs, stocks, bonds – all of them were entirely alien concepts that I knew embarrassingly little about. To make up for this, I decided to seek financial advice.
Why seek financial advice?
Getting financial advice is a very personal decision. It might be that, like me, you have very little experience dealing with finances and receiving that first pay cheque sparks curiosity to learn more about things like tax, national insurance and pensions.
Or it might be that you want to save towards a house, or another large purchase. Many also seek financial advice when it comes to investments, to ensure that their money is working for them in the most effective way possible.
Financial advisers can help in all of these scenarios, offering a wide range of services tailored to your individual circumstances at each stage of life – whether that’s savings, mortgages, insurance or retirement planning.
Getting in touch with a financial adviser
Going back to my own situation, I decided to take financial advice when I first started working as a foundation doctor. I had some savings and had recently started earning, so I wanted to see how I could make the most of my money.
I booked an appointment with a Specialist Financial Adviser from Wesleyan Financial Services through their website. We met online from the comfort of my home, and it was very relaxed.
The best bit about it was that I was made to feel comfortable and the advice was provided on a no-obligation basis, meaning I was able to receive guidance without feeling pressured to buy any products.
To prepare for the meeting, I had my bank account statements and payslips to hand, along with some goals in mind. The whole meeting lasted an hour and I was given plenty to think about, as well as a more thorough understanding of my financial position.
The benefits of financial advice
Overall, I found the whole experience extremely educational, and I came away with the tools I needed to make a financial plan. Since then, I have made use of the advice my Specialist Financial Adviser provided and have achieved my goal of buying a house.
Don’t get me wrong, this certainly wasn’t an overnight process. But having this knowledge allowed me to make the most of the money I had and boosted my ability to save towards my goals.
I found that one of the biggest benefits was speaking to an adviser who had knowledge of my professional background and pay scales. This meant they could provide more tailored and specific advice in comparison to other services.
Whatever your financial circumstances, I would strongly recommend speaking to a Specialist Financial Adviser – you never know how their advice might benefit your financial health!