Our Five Step Financial Planning process is effective, efficient, and time tested.
We shed light on your goals and objectives and then develop and implement a strategic plan to achieve them.
1. Discovery
Prior to our first meeting, we will ask you to deliver to us a few critical documents along with a completed cash flow worksheet and investment profile. Assimilating this information in advance allows us to better prepare for our meetings with a laser focus, making our time together much more efficient. The Discovery Meeting is your time to help us understand your hopes and dreams as well as fears and concerns. It is a time to center on what you hold dear rather than what you hold in your 401k account.
2. Exploration
After a careful review and analysis, we develop a financial model of your current situation and project your future cash flows and tax liabilities. During this step, you can sit back and relax while we formulate ideas to integrate insurance, investment, retirement, income tax and estate planning into one cohesive plan. Each of these areas influences others and it is important to understand the interplay between them. We stay current on taxes, investment strategies, retirement trends, and estate law so that you don’t have to.
3. Design
Rather than preparing the entire plan and then delivering an overwhelming document it all at once, we carefully walk through each stage with you. We custom tailor your plan one meeting at a time. This allows you to understand each component and permits us to make any required changes along the way. Each meeting will focus on only one subject. If necessary, we can schedule an additional meeting to continue with the previous subject before we take the next step. It is very important that you understand and agree with each and every phase in the process. And since we charge a single flat fee for your plan, you will never be billed for spending additional time with us to understand your plan, either in person or by phone.
4. Implementation
Even the best plan is useless without deliberate action. When we deliver your final custom written plan, we will include an implementation guide with specific recommendations and a timeline for completion. Once you agree to the completion schedule, we will enter these details into our system and contact you at each agreed upon date. This ensures that every item will be completed in a timely fashion and that nothing will be left to chance.
If your plan requires investment or insurance solutions, we can help to secure them for you. We represent all of our clients in the investment and insurance marketplaces and, as your advocate, we will ensure that what we recommend is high quality, competitive and, most importantly, achieves your specific goals.
5. Monitoring
A Financial Plan is not a stagnant document, but a fluid process. It is imperative to adapt and respond to changes that may impact your financial plan. There are two broad areas that are susceptible to change: the external environment and your internal environment. External factors include the tax code, interest rates, inflation and economic policies. Internal factors include items like marriage or divorce, a new child or grandchild, or a change in jobs. While we will bring to your attention external changes, we rely upon you to tell us when an internal factor has changed. We will evaluate these changes along the way and modify your plan as necessary.
It is important to track your investments and compare the results to your objectives in order to keep your planning on its intended course. We will meet with you periodically to evaluate the performance of your plan and to update your goals and objectives, as needed. Additionally, through our secure online Portfolio monitoring system, you can easily and quickly view all of your investments from any provider in one place at any time without cost. You will be able to see each holding as well as your current asset allocation and performance.