What is financial planning? What does it actually look like in practice? Maybe you immediately assume it’s complex charts and graphs loaded into a binder and used by the wealthy to strategize their money. In reality, it’s an evolving process that is useful for everyone.
Financial planning is simply life planning that everyone needs in some capacity. It’s finding answers to questions about your future that may not have a straightforward answer. It is a way of looking at all the financial tools available to you and implementing them in a way that makes sense for your specific and unique set of goals. Financial planning involves taking all the details and forming the bigger picture that can and will evolve as life changes. It can be as simple as buying a car with cash or using a loan and it can be as complex as creating tax-efficient income streams in retirement.
Financial planning is often derived from the following questions:
- When do I need to have a will written? Do I need a trust?
- Which retirement account should I start taking income from first?
- Am I contributing enough to my investment accounts?
- When should I begin drawing from social security?
- Should I convert my Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?
- How do I structure my retirement funds to provide the growth needed to make my assets last my lifetime and still be able to weather the unpredictable aspects of financial markets?
The reality is that it may seem complex at first, but our goal as financial planners is to take the complex and break it down so it is easy to understand and, better yet, implement. Our role in this process is expansive: coach, psychologist, teacher, technical advisor, and much more. We pride ourselves in contributing a whole-of-staff effort to our services with a one-team one-fight attitude. So please feel free to call us to set up a time to discuss your financial planning goals.