These pages explain how the decisions work. They are not personal advice, because advice depends on your circumstances. Where a decision is large or irreversible, take advice from someone who knows them.
The order that actually works
Almost every planning mistake is a sequencing mistake: investing before there is a buffer, or saving for a holiday while carrying a credit card at 20%. The order below is boring and it is right.
1. A small buffer
One month of essential outgoings, in instant access. It stops a broken boiler becoming debt.
2. Clear expensive debt
Anything above about 8%. Paying it down is a guaranteed, tax-free return no investment can promise.
3. Take any employer match
If your employer matches pension contributions, that match is part of your pay. Not taking it is a pay cut.
4. Build the buffer properly
Three to six months of essential outgoings. Longer if your income is irregular or you support other people.
5. Fund the dated goals
Anything you need within five years: a deposit, a wedding, a car. Savings, not investments.
6. Invest the long horizon
Money you will not touch for a decade or more. This is where growth comes from, and where patience is required.
Skipping step one is the classic error
Investing without a buffer means the first emergency forces you to sell, often at the worst moment. The buffer is not the boring part of the plan — it is what makes the rest of it survivable.
Plan by goal
Emergency fund
How much, where to keep it, and when it is right to use it.
OpenPersonal goals
Turning "one day" into a monthly figure with a date attached.
OpenA child's education
The long horizon, what it realistically costs, and starting late.
OpenTax-efficient saving
Using allowances properly before reaching for anything clever.
OpenEmployee benefits
The pay you already have and probably are not using.
OpenEstate and legacy
Passing wealth on without avoidable cost or conflict.
Read the guideReviewing the plan
A plan is not a document you write once. It is a set of decisions that should be revisited when something real changes — not on a calendar reminder.
- A change in income, in either direction.
- A new dependant, or one becoming independent.
- Moving home, or a change in housing cost.
- A change in health that affects earning or spending.
- A goal being reached, or being abandoned.
- A large windfall or an inheritance.
One annual check is enough
Beyond the events above, an hour once a year is plenty. Frequent tinkering makes plans worse, not better.
Tools and next steps
Documents you may also need
Your Emergency Fund
How much to hold, where to keep it, how to build it when money is tight, and what actually counts as an emergency.
Financial PlanningPersonal Goals
Turning "one day" into a monthly figure with a date on it: how to size a goal, where to keep the money, and what to do when you fall behind.
Financial PlanningTax-Efficient Saving
Using the allowances you already have, in the right order, before reaching for anything complicated — and why the tax tail should not wag the dog.
This document was last updated on 1 August 2026. We publish the current version here at all times; superseded versions are available on request.
If anything on this page is unclear, write to us and we will explain it.