Financial Planning
Financial Planning
Live for Today and Tomorrow
We provide financial planning that balances the needs and wants you have today with those in the future. Yes, saving for retirement is necessary, but saving for that trip of a lifetime or that vacation home you’ve always wanted can be important, too. There’s a balance to living in the now while saving for the future that we help our clients work toward.
What is Financial Planning?
Financial Planning involves looking into all aspects of a client’s financial picture and advising them on how to achieve their goals. Typically, there are several main topics and questions clients are looking for guidance on.
Retirement Planning
- how much money do I need to live comfortably in retirement?
- when should I claim social security?
- how do I plan for retirement healthcare costs?
Investment Management
- am I taking the right amount of risk in my portfolio?
- do I own the right investments based on the current markets?
- is my rate of return enough to get me to my goals?
General Financial Planning
- how much should I keep in an emergency fund?
- how do I create and maintain a budget?
- am I paying down my debt efficiently?
Taxes
- is there anything I can do to reduce my income taxes?
- is my portfolio optimized for current and future tax rates?
- do tax-sensitive investments make sense for me?
Risk Management & Insurance
- how do I protect my family if I die or become disabled?
- what are the “blind spots” that could derail my financial goals?
- does long-term care insurance make sense for me?
Estate Planning
- have I named the proper beneficiaries on my accounts?
- what is the difference between a will, trust, and power of attorneys?
- how can I ensure my estate passes effective to the people or organizations I care about?
Education Planning
- how much do I need to have saved up to pay for my child’s education?
- what accounts and investment vehicles can I use to grow a college nest egg?
- how does financial aid work?
What is the Financial Planning Process?
We will start our relationship with a quick phone appointment. We will ask you some basic questions, mostly centered around what’s important to you, and what you are looking for in a relationship with an advisor. We will walk you through our process, explain our fees, and answer any questions you may have. If you agree that we are a good fit, we can move on to step two.
Schedule a CallThe next step in the process is to collect all of the necessary information to create a financial plan centered around your goals. To help streamline the process, we developed a handy-dandy questionnaire to help us collect all of this data. Once the questionnaire is returned to our office, the “nerd work” begins, and we start developing your custom financial plan. Your final financial planning fee will also be determined and communicated to you at this time.
Symmetry Financial Planning QuestionnaireOnce your plan is completed, we will meet to discuss the specific financial planning strategies, possible blind spots, and recommendations we identified to set you on the right track to your goals. We will answer all of your questions so you have complete confidence in what steps you need to take to put the plan into action. Depending on your situation, it may take 2-3 formal meetings to cover all of the necessary topics. Our meetings are held in office, or virtually via Zoom, whichever you prefer.
Sample Financial PlanAfter our meetings, we will provide ongoing monitoring and communication to help you implement any of the strategies that we recommended. If there are services you need outside of our scope of engagement, then we will introduce to you other professionals that can help. Along the way, we are always available to answer questions and discuss any changes to your financial situation.
What does Financial Planning Cost?
The fees for stand-alone Financial Planning can range from $2,500 to $5,000 or more depending on your unique situation. Your exact planning fee will be determined and communicated to you during step two of the planning process once we have a better overview of your needs.
Some clients may have planning needs that will require for us to meet on an ongoing basis through the years. Others might want to meet annually for a quick “financial checkup” to make sure they are on the right track, or because something has significantly changed. Fees for ongoing planning or “financial checkups” will be based on each clients’ unique situation and communicated in advance.
Many of our clients also choose to utilize our Investment Management services, and in doing so, Financial Planning is included in their investment management fee. Please visit the Investment Management page to learn more.
Ready to start the planning process?
If you have more questions, or you are ready for step one of the planning process, please schedule a call with us to talk more.