Financial Planning

A comprehensive financial plan will cover a great deal of material.  Here are some of the basics.  Some of these planning steps may be more important to you than others at any given time, but eventually most will need to be addressed.

Current Situation

  1. Analyze and develop strategies to improve the following:
    1. Assets
    2. Liabilities
    3. Income
    4. Expenses
  2. Identity Protection
  3. Benefits Review
    1. Employer Benefits
    2. Government Benefits
    3. Social Security Maximization Strategies

Tax Planning

  1. Income Tax Review
  2. Income Tax Projections
  3. Strategic Analysis – how to save money in taxes over the long-term while positioning yourself with more flexibility.
  4. Tactical Application

Goal Tracking

  1. Review current financial position
  2. Clarify and assess goals
    1. Short-Term Goals
    2. Long-Term Goals
    3. Education Savings
    4. Financial Independence
  3. Review how different goals my impact each other

Contingency Planning

  1. Cash Reserves – How much is enough?  Too much??  How to effectively structure the reserves.
  2. Insurance Review
    1. Life
    2. Disability
    3. Long-Term Care
    4. Property/Casualty

Investment Management

  1. Developing an appropriate investment policy statement
  2. Reviewing invested assets
  3. Understanding investment options – ETF’s, Mutual Funds, Individual securities, bonds, etc.
  4. Reviewing risk tolerance
  5. Reviewing growth targets for long-term goals
  6. Investment outlook for short-term
  7. Identifying investment styles/focuses that are appropriate for you
  8. Tactical investment allocation (what types of investments would be best to hold in different account types)
  9. Portfolio construction designed with fixed income considerations

Estate Planning

  1. Beneficiary Review
  2. Asset Distribution
  3. Survivorship adequacy (are your loved ones going to be ok if you are gone)
  4. Developing Estate strategies
  5. Implementing estate strategies