Financial Planning is the process of reviewing and making recommendations regarding the non-investment-related financial areas of your life.

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Financial planning starts by establishing where you want to go in life. What experiences do you want to have, what things would you like to have, and when you want to have them?  These things will change over our lifetime, but we need to determine a direction to head. When things change, we can always circle back around and make adjustments based on our original direction.

After determining which way you are headed, financial planning looks at various financial aspects and prescribes some appropriate steps to take so you can protect your current situation and keep heading towards where you want to go. Here’s some of the areas usually covered by financial planning:

Life Planning / Life Design
  • Where is it I want to go?
  • What are the possibilities?
Career Planning
  • Do I need to be making more money?
  • What do I need to negotiate?
  • Where am I in comparison to others?
Savings Strategy
  • How much should I be saving?
  • What type of accounts should I be saving in?
Insurance
  • How much life insurance do I need?
  • Do I need disability insurance?
  • What other things do I need to cover my a$$?
Taxes
  • Am I paying too much in taxes?
  • What can I do to lower my tax burden?
College
  • How much do I need to save?
  • What type of accounts should I be using?
  • Are there strategies for minimizing college costs?
  • How do I pay it off?
  • Are there student loan strategies that can save me time and money?
Retirement
  • How much do I need to save?
  • How much of my savings can I safely use?
  • What type of accounts should I be using?
  • When can I retire?
  • Do I have enough to retire?
Estate
  • How do I make sure things go as planned after I’m gone?
  • How do I make things easiest on my family?
  • What estate documents do I need?

It can be a review of one area or a total overview of your whole financial life.  Often overlooked by other so called “financial professionals,” financial planning is more important to your long term success than the investment portion.

Financial planning often requires the collaboration of other advisors like accountants, attorneys, and insurance professionals.  If you don’t already have a relationship with one of these professionals, we are happy to introduce you to experts we trust.

We charge a project fee for our financial planning services.  Our fee will always quoted before work begins and are based upon the complexity of your situation and the estimated time it will take us to prepare recommendations.

*Financial planning may also include some incidental investment related advice.  For instance, we may help you select an investment for your 401(k) at work.