What is Cashflow Forecasting?

Am I on track to afford my future plans? When can I afford to retire? Will my savings last or will I have a shortfall? These are the important questions that cashflow forecasting aims to answer.

Cashflow forecasting is the process of mapping out your income, spending, assets and commitments over time to show how your finances may change in the future. Rather than looking only at where you are today, a cashflow forecast helps you understand whether you’re on track to achieve your goals, such as retiring comfortably, funding children’s education, reducing debt or achieving financial independence.

By bringing together your savings, pensions, investments, earnings and lifestyle costs into one visual plan, cashflow forecasting provides a clearer picture of how decisions made today may affect your financial future.

How Does Cashflow Forecasting Work?

Cashflow forecasting combines your current financial position with assumptions about the future to build a personalised financial model.

Typically, this includes:

• Your income (salary, business income, pensions, benefits, rental income)
• Regular expenditure and lifestyle costs
• Savings, investments and pensions
• Mortgages, loans and financial commitments
• Future goals and key life events (e.g. retirement age, moving home, education costs, travel plans)

Using this information, we project your finances forward across your lifetime to show:

• Whether your money is likely to last
• What level of spending is sustainable
• The potential impact of investment returns and inflation
• How different choices may change your financial outcomes

The forecast isn’t about predicting the future exactly, instead, it acts as a decision making tool, helping you see the long-term impact of today’s choices in a clear, visual way.

We review and update your forecast regularly, so it evolves with your life, your goals and your circumstances.

Exploring Different Scenarios

One of the most powerful benefits of cashflow forecasting is the ability to test “what-if” scenarios to support better financial decisions. Examples include:

• Retirement timing – What happens if you retire earlier or later?
• Spending lifestyle changes – Can you afford to spend more now or would cutting back accelerate financial independence?
• Investment choices – How do different levels of risk or return affect future outcomes?
• Property decisions – What if you move home, downsize or repay your mortgage early?
• Career or income changes – How does a career break, self-employment or part-time work affect your financial future?
• Major life events – Funding education, supporting children, caring responsibilities or inheritance planning

By comparing scenarios side-by-side, you can make confident, informed decisions based on evidence rather than guesswork.

Why Cashflow Forecasting Matters

Cashflow forecasting helps you:

• Understand whether you’re financially secure — now and in the future
• Gain clarity and confidence around major life and money decisions
• See risks early, rather than reacting too late
• Align your finances with the life you want to live
• Replace financial uncertainty with a clear plan

It turns your finances from numbers on a page into a meaningful, forward-looking roadmap.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.