By Are you aware of everything a financial planning team can do for you?
We’ve been in the financial planning business for nearly two decades. In talking with friends and prospective clients, I find that even now, many people aren’t aware of everything a financial planning team does. “You’re just stocks and bonds, right?” is something we hear a lot.
While stocks and bonds are certainly part of what we do at Family Financial Partners, much more goes into comprehensive financial planning. At the core of our team’s philosophy is organizing your entire financial life – and helping you see how each and every part of your money and finances fit together and effect every other part of your money and finances.
How do we do that? Our approach involves several key methods that aim to get and keep you organized – in your stocks and bonds and beyond.
Communication
Ask any of our clients about their first meeting with us, and they’ll tell you it involved a lot of talking and a lot of questions. We sit down with all potential clients and go over everything from how much they spent on groceries or clothes last month, to what kind of home they envision living in during retirement, to what shaped their values and approach to money. While this meeting can take a couple of hours, the more we know about your money and your values, the better we can organize your finances in a way that’s tailored to you.
Planning checklists
For each client who comes on board with us, we create a personalized checklist to help them easily prioritize and check off to-dos as they move through the planning process. This checklist includes emergency fund goals, tips such as double checking accurate reporting of income to Social Security, monthly retirement contributions, insurance recommendations and much more, all individually created for you and your particular situation.
Aggregation tools
We use eMoney, a secure software tool that houses all of your financial information in one easy place. This helps our clients see at a glance where they are and what effects today’s decision could have on future goals. In short, by staying organized and aggregating all financial information in one place, we help clients stay informed and make smart decisions.
Accountability
Everyone knows how easy it is to set a goal or New Year’s resolution, only to fall off the proverbial wagon a month or two later. It’s our job to help you stick to your goals and stay accountable to them. Monthly cash flow budgeting today helps you stay on track with your retirement goals, even if you’re still years from retirement. We’ll help you see how these pieces fit together to form a big picture and help you stay on the path to get there. We find that many clients get off track simply because they stop paying attention. We’ll help keep you in the know.
Referrals
Financial planning is not about managing an investment portfolio and leaving clients to their own devices for every other aspect of their money. We’re always here to answer questions and adjust plans according to life changes or new goals. But we’ll also help you find a CPA who fits your personality, an estate attorney who specializes in your area of concern, or any other professional you may need when your questions fall outside our areas of expertise. We maintain relationships with many professionals we feel confident in recommending to our clients.
We’d love to help you (and your friends and family) get organized when it comes to your money. Give us a call today.
Article by David Smyth, CLTC, Senior Partner at Family Financial Partners — a financial services firm in Lexington, Kentucky.