Financial planning that makes perfect sense to you
To truly understand your complete financial picture, you need to work with someone who can identify, analyze and review each component of your money profile, then integrate them all into a comprehensive snapshot for you to look at and examine in detail.
Your planner needs to understand what money means to you; how you use it, what you hope to do with it and the various ways in which you interact with it, individually or as a family. They must speak to you about your finances in a way that makes sense to you.
That’s exactly what our holistic approach to financial planning aims to do. We start by asking you a simple question: “What do you hope to accomplish by visiting us today?” By listening carefully to your answer, we begin the process of gaining insights into what you need from your financial plan – and from your financial planner.
Your life needs a plan
Everyone’s life plan should be built on a solid foundation. We offer you the cornerstone of that foundation in the form of a detailed and nuanced blueprint we call a financial plan. Our plans provide a panoramic, 360-degree view of your current and future needs in a clear and easily understood format.
We ask you to complete a questionnaire that tells us about your financial goals, major life events and relationships, the present status of your financial holdings including savings, investments, retirement accounts, insurance, real estate and other assets, and specific issues that you may may be facing.
Using this data and targeted input that we get from a question-and-answer review with you, we develop a holistic financial plan document that is tailored to your specific needs. We present our analysis to you during a meeting that generally lasts 2 – 3 hours.
You receive a written plan document that shows you multiple outcome scenarios based on previously-agreed upon parameters. We provide detailed explanations of each plan component, suggest action steps for you to undertake, and explain in simple terms any concepts that are unfamiliar to you.
At the end of the formal plan presentation, you can review the planning document at home at your convenience and can follow-up with a reasonable number of questions that might come up during implementation.
We strive to complete our part of the planning work in 6 – 8 weeks after receipt of your questionnaire and requested documents.
Details of our financial planning services and fees
Our financial planning services include review and analysis of areas including individual goals, net worth and financial position, budget and current spending habits, retirement goals, tax issues, current investment portfolio position, estate planning issues, insurance concerns and education funding.
Once we have identified your unique financial planning goals, we will provide you with an estimate of the cost of preparing an integrated financial plan. Fees generally range from $3,000 to $6,000 depending on the complexity of the plan, based on our current hourly rate of $300. We require a 50% deposit prior to work beginning, with the balance due upon completion of the plan.
For specific details of our financial planning services fees, please click on this Table of Fees and Services.
NAPFA defines a Fee-Only planner as one who, in all circumstances, is compensated solely by the client, with neither the advisor nor any related party receiving compensation that is contingent on the purchase or sale of a financial product. A NAPFA member or affiliate may not receive commissions, rebates, finder’s fees, bonuses or any form of compensation from others as a result of a client’s implementation of the individual’s planning recommendations.
More information is available on NAPFA’s website.