Comprehensive Financial Planning

The advice-only financial planning process includes a comprehensive review and analysis of your current financial situation, personal recommendations in a measurable action plan to help you achieve your financial goals with confidence and guidance along the way.

Providing personalized education and advice in your best interest requires a full understanding of your unique financial situation, opportunities, and desired outcomes. Nearly all financial decisions have implications across multiple planning areas and should not be considered in isolation.

The Planning Process

1. Consultation Call

This is a complimentary call to learn more about you, the financial areas that are top of mind, and your desired outcome from working together on your financial plan. We will go over the financial planning process and mutually define our expectations to make sure advice-only financial planning aligns with your needs.

2. Let’s Get Organized

We decided to work together - let’s get organized! Your financial information is compiled using a secure online vault. Each planning topic area is summarized to gain an understanding of your current financial picture before we do a deep dive into your goals and concerns. At the end of our call, we will have our planning areas prioritized and mapped out to guide us over the next 12 months together.

3. Cash Flow & Goals

Hate budgeting? Us too! This will be fun though. We will review your cash flow to get a sense of your lifestyle costs and the amount leftover each month. Then, we will go over your goals and prioritize how to allocate your extra monthly dollars. This will help us plan both short to long-term goals and stay on track.

4. Plan Creation & Review

After approximately four months of working together, you will have a full understanding of your current financial situation and the adjustments you need to make to better accomplish your goals.

5. Implementation

The remaining months of the engagement are arguably the most important, because a plan is nothing without action. You are encouraged to ask questions so you are confident in implementing any or all of the financial planning recommendations. We will have follow up calls to further discuss certain topic areas and guide you in the implementation process.

The financial planning process covers the following topic areas:

  • Review your income and expenses to determine how we can intentionally allocate dollars to your goals.

  • Utilize financial planning software to evaluate your current situation and the feasibility of your goals. We’ll collaborate to create scenarios and a plan to guide you down the path to retirement. If financial independence before age 59.5 is a goal, we will pay close attention to your tax-efficient accumulation and income distribution strategies while understanding the roles of complex government programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

  • Review the benefits of your employment beyond compensation, including qualified retirement plans, deferred compensation, stock options, and group insurance options.

  • Review your current investments across all your accounts and help you make changes based on your risk tolerance and short to long-term goals.

  • Review risk mitigation solutions such as auto, homeowners, life, disability, health, long-term care, and liability insurance and appropriately align them with your personal financial needs.

  • Guide you to work with an estate planning attorney to create a plan to protect your family now and direct your assets later by reviewing your beneficiary designations, account titling, last wills, trusts, appointed guardians, and powers of attorney.

  • Find tax-efficient opportunities, including Roth conversion strategies, tax gain and loss harvesting, deductions and credits, and asset location. Review income tax withholdings to avoid surprise tax bills and penalties.

  • Plan ahead for major purchases, career sabbaticals, marriage, children, inheritance, and aging parents. As life happens, it is important to be proactive rather than reactive.

Planning Fees:

New relationships begin with a 12-month comprehensive planning engagement at an annual fee of $4,500 - $6,500, based on our hourly rate of $250 and the estimated hours required for your financial plan. Half of the cost is due upon signing the formal engagement letter and the other half will be due upon the presentation of the financial plan.

Note: the above fees are based on the prevailing hourly rate of $250. If we spend less than the estimated number of hours, the fee will be adjusted down or refunded. If we spend more than the estimated number of hours, that’s on us up to a certain extent and will be communicated before any additional fee.

Follow-up services and meetings for clients who complete a comprehensive planning engagement will also be tied to our hourly rate of $250. These plan updates focus on ‘looking ahead' to help you make proactive financial decisions as your plan inventively changes over time.

Secure payments can be made using AdvicePay with a credit card or direct deposit. Cairn Financial Planning will not collect your confidential payment information.