The-Step Financial Planning Process
As financial planners, we follow the 7 Step CFP® Planning Process when providing our services.
1. Understanding Your Personal and Financial Circumstances
We ask questions to obtain quantitative and qualitative information to better understand your specific circumstances.
Qualitative questions may address things such as family circumstances, expectations, goals, priorities, and the current course of action for example.
Quantitative questions may include information on your dependents, cash flow needs, liquidity, and estate plans among others.
2. Identifying and Selecting Your Goals
We work to uncover potential short, intermediate, and long-term goals to better understand your priorities.
As we learn more about your circumstances, we help select and prioritize your most critical goals.
Our process balances the impact each individual goal has on your other goals, helping you make informed decisions about your future.
3. Analyzing the Current Course of Action and Potential Alternative Courses of Action
We will objectively identify the risks and opportunities in your current course of action.
Using comprehensive planning tools, we assess where you are today relative to your goals, identifying any gaps in reaching those goals.
4. Developing Financial Planning Recommendations
As needed, we develop alternative courses of action. Each of which helps maximize the potential for meeting your goals while integrating relevant personal and financial elements.
Alternative courses of action include recommendations to increase your probability of success in reaching the goals identified earlier.
This may include comparing multiple different courses of action and potential outcomes, as well as analyzing factors that are outside of your control but still impacting your plan.
5. Present and Review Recommendations
a. Our team provides a written financial plan including our recommendations, sequence of implementation, and basis for each recommendation which is reviewed with you one-on-one.
b. For each recommendation, we thoroughly explain the assumptions used and how this recommendation helps meet the established goals.
c. We ensure there is clear understanding of each recommendation and how they help improve your probability of reaching your goals.
6. Implementing Financial Planning Recommendations
We clearly explain any actions needed to implement the recommendations and collaborate with your tax or legal professionals as necessary.
As fiduciaries, we then identify, analyze and recommend the specific investments best suited towards supporting your various goals.
7. Monitoring Financial Planning Recommendations
Life is unpredictable, and a plan is only useful to the extent that it remains relevant. As life changes unfold, we work with you to refresh your plan periodically to assure it is still on track.
We are your accountability partners in monitoring your progress towards the established goals.
