We talk a lot about financial planning. In a video exclusive to our free Facebook Group, our financial planner, Tiffany White, spoke about what working with a financial planner is like. Join our group to watch this and other exclusive content. Today we’re going to dive deeper into what that process entails.
Creating a real financial plan is a complex process. But our five-meeting structure breaks it into manageable chunks. In each sixty to ninety-minute meeting, we guide you through your finances.
The Discovery Meeting
We design the first meeting to give you greater clarity to all the “whys” around your finances. Our goal in Discovery is to get better acquainted and talk about your values, goals, and priorities.
In this meeting, Tiffany guides you though a thought-provoking exercise designed to sharpen our clarity around your individual values, what financial goals you want to achieve, and which of those goals are the most important.
This first meeting requires no work from you. You just show up. How easy is that?
The Design Meeting
Your second meeting with Tiffany will bring you deep into your finances. The goal of Design is to look at the numbers, facts, and options. This is where Tiffany begins to plan for your dreams, using the goals, values, and priorities identified in Discovery.
This meeting has homework. There are several documents you need to provide prior to or at this meeting. Why?
To know what to plan for, Tiffany needs to know where you stand today. While this can feel a little scary, in our experience the relief of knowing where you are outweighs the initial anxiety.
But don’t worry. We provide a list of what documents you need prior to the first meeting so you can get started and do a little at a time.
Once you leave this meeting, you’ll receive an invitation to your own Personal Financial Website. The premium site is loaded with features designed to give you a better grasp on your finances. Often, we’ll have an informal meeting via Zoom or face-to-face to help you get started using the site.
The Alignment Meeting
In this third meeting, you’ll meet with our Investment Manager, Bradford Ferguson. Brad will teach you the basics of investing and help you optimize your savings for growth to fulfill your goals.
But this is more than just about balances and bottom lines. The Alignment meeting strives to make sure you’re saving the right amount of money in the right accounts, because that gives you your best chance of making dreams a reality.
You’ll have time to ask about your investment questions and voice any concerns you have about investing and growing your hard-earned money.
Tiffany provides Bradford with statements and facts before this meeting, so they only thing you need to do is show up. There is no homework for this meeting.
The Implementation Meeting
This fourth meeting, Implementation, is the culmination of all your hard work. Tiffany will present the plan that is the result of the preceding meetings and hours of behind-the-scene work by Tiffany. She will have crafted a plan that will help you visualize and explore your options and see how it all works.
Tiffany will walk you through the alternatives and you will pick a path. Then she’ll give you your next steps so you can act and make your dreams a reality.
Follow Through and Support
Recently, we added a fifth meeting to our process. We felt that many of our clients would benefit from a more formal Follow Through and Support system and this fifth meeting is just the beginning.
Come back in, or schedule a call, after you’ve had time to digest the intricacies of your plan. Or any time questions arise or situations change.
You don’t have to worry about forgetting to ask a question in Implementation, because this meeting is just one small part of our continuing service to helping you achieve your goals. As an active client, we are here to answer your questions.
A lasting relationship
We believe this support is just as important as the physical plan. In our experience, those with a financial plan weather the changing financial landscape better and with less stress than those without. The financial crisis only emphasized the value of having a real financial plan. Facts and figures can help to explain investment choices, but they won’t ease worries when the market fluctuates. We understand the link between money and emotions. And getting clarity around your finances can be scary. There are so many emotions that come from a financial plan.
It all comes down to one question, “Will my money last my lifetime?” For such a simple question, it sure can cause a lot of anxiety. We understand our client’s biggest fear might be to hear things won’t be okay or having to face working longer.
Other people might feel like they’re doing just fine on their own. These people don’t think they need a plan. They may tell themselves they are just too busy. But this boils down to that anxiety again. Too many people know they need a plan but put it off until tomorrow for whatever reason. But suddenly retirement is right around the corner and they panic. In our experience, about a third of our clients wait until a few months before retirement to take a comprehensive look.
We’ve learned as a firm that the earlier you put a plan in place the more time you have for exploring your options. Starting your planning journey sooner allows you more time to help your dreams line up with your reality. If something isn’t right, wouldn’t you prefer to know now, when you can still correct it?