Financial Planning
Chart a course for your financial future.
The 401(k) from two jobs ago. The savings you keep meaning to invest. The policy you signed up for and forgot. Year by year these pieces drift further apart, with no one steering them toward the same goal.
What is Financial Planning?
Financial planning is a comprehensive process that helps individuals and businesses achieve their financial goals and ensure long-term financial security.
It involves assessing current financial situations, setting achievable objectives, and implementing strategies to meet these goals through disciplined savings, investments, and prudent money management.
This multifaceted approach encompasses various elements, such as budgeting, retirement planning, tax optimization, risk management, and estate planning.
An Asset Strategy financial planner or advisor can assist in this process, bringing expertise and an objective perspective.
You may be handling most of this yourself and doing fine. The value of a planner shows up in the parts that are easy to postpone: coordinating taxes with investments, pressure-testing the plan against a job loss or a down market, and keeping it current as your life changes.
The Core Steps of Your Financial Planning Process
A clear, structured approach brings confidence and direction to your financial life.
Establishing Goals
FoundationThe first step is to define your short-term and long-term financial goals. These could range from buying a house, funding education, starting a business, to planning for retirement. Clear goals provide direction and purpose to your financial plan.
Gathering Information
SnapshotCollect detailed information about your financial situation, including income, expenses, debts, assets, and liabilities. This comprehensive overview is essential for creating an accurate and realistic financial plan.
Analyzing Information
InsightAnalyze the gathered data to understand your current financial health. This involves evaluating cash flow, identifying savings opportunities, and assessing investment performance. This analysis helps in identifying potential risks and areas for improvement.
Developing a Plan
StrategyBased on the analysis, develop a customized financial plan that outlines strategies to achieve your goals. This plan should include specific actions, timelines, and milestones. It should also address potential challenges and risks, with contingency plans in place.
Implementing the Plan
ActionPutting the financial plan into action involves executing the outlined strategies. This could mean setting up investment accounts, adjusting insurance coverage, or establishing a savings regimen. Consistent implementation is key to success.
Monitoring and Reviewing
OngoingFinancial planning is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. Regularly review and adjust your plan to reflect changes in your financial situation, market conditions, and life circumstances. Regular monitoring ensures that you stay on track to meet your goals.
Where Most People Get Their Financial Advice
Here is the uncomfortable part. The people most of us lean on for money advice are not confident in it either.
While more survey respondents said they’re likely to turn to their parents for financial advice than other sources, nearly half of parents with children under 21 rated their own financial literacy at a grade of C or lower.
Here’s the percentage of parents who feel confident managing different areas of their personal finances:
- Planning for retirement: 61%
- Taking out and repaying student loans: 55%
- Managing a 401(k): 53%
- Investing: 33%
Common Questions About Financial Planning
What does a Financial Planner do?
A financial planner looks at your entire financial life as one connected picture, including cash flow, investments, retirement, taxes, insurance, education funding, and estate planning. The value comes from coordination, since a decision in one area ripples into the others. Asset Strategy’s fiduciary advisors build a written plan around your priorities and coordinate it with your CPA and attorney.
Do I need a Financial Planner?
Ask yourself two questions: are you confident your financial decisions work together, and would a mistake be costly? If either answer gives you pause, a conversation with Asset Strategy is worth the time, with no obligation to move forward.
When is a good time to see a Financial Planner?
The best time is before a major decision, while all of your options are still open, such as selling a business, exercising stock options, or approaching retirement. Other common triggers include marriage, a new child, and a career change. Even without a specific event, an early review can uncover gaps that are easier to fix now than later.
I am coming into a significant amount of money. Should I hire an advisor?
Yes. Sudden wealth brings tax, legal, and emotional decisions that can be difficult to reverse, so our first advice is to slow down, keep the funds safe and accessible, and be cautious of unsolicited offers. Asset Strategy can then help you understand the tax consequences, protect what you received, and build a plan around your values, explaining every step in terms you understand.
What does it mean to be a fiduciary Financial Advisor?
A fiduciary is legally required to act in your best interest throughout the relationship, with conflicts of interest eliminated or fully disclosed. Many brokers and insurance agents are held to standards that apply only when a product is recommended or sold. Asset Strategy is an independent fiduciary firm, and every recommendation is guided by what is right for you.
Can a Financial Planner help with tax planning?
Yes. Tax planning looks ahead to reduce what you owe over your lifetime through strategies such as Roth conversions, tax-loss harvesting, retirement withdrawal sequencing, and charitable giving. Asset Strategy works directly with your CPA to catch opportunities before year-end deadlines.
How does a Financial Planner help with estate planning?
Your attorney drafts the documents, and Asset Strategy makes sure they work as intended by coordinating beneficiary designations, account titling, and insurance. This matters because beneficiary forms generally take precedence over a will. We also help clients transfer wealth tax-efficiently and prepare heirs.
What should business owners consider in financial planning?
For most owners, the business is their largest asset, main income source, and retirement plan all at once. Asset Strategy’s Owner-Based Planning looks at the business and personal finances together, covering entity structure, owner retirement plans, buy-sell protection, valuation, and exit or succession strategy.
What should I expect at my first meeting, and what should I bring?
Your first meeting is a conversation about your goals and what prompted you to reach out, with no expectation to commit. Helpful items include recent account statements, your latest tax return, pay stubs or business financials, insurance policies, and any estate documents. Bring what you can and we will help organize the rest.
How often should I meet with my Financial Planner?
Most Asset Strategy clients meet one to four times a year, with more frequent meetings early on while the plan is put in place. Asset Strategy is also available between reviews whenever a significant decision comes up.
Is it too late to start financial planning?
Almost never. Later starters often have higher earnings and pressing decisions around retirement income, Social Security, Medicare, and long-term care, plus tools like catch-up contributions after age 50. Asset Strategy can help you prioritize and make the most of the years ahead.
How can a Financial Planner help after a major life change?
Divorce, the death of a spouse, a job loss, or a health diagnosis often brings time pressure and emotional weight at once. Asset Strategy can help you separate urgent decisions from those that can wait, understand the tax consequences of each option, and update your plan for your new circumstances.
Let’s Put Your Plan Together
Every year you tell yourself you will get organized once things settle down. Another year passes, the accounts drift further apart, and the decisions you keep postponing quietly cost you. A 15-minute call is where that pattern ends and your plan begins. You will leave knowing exactly what comes next.
Click the button below or visit www.assetstrategy.com/contact to get your financial plan.
