Frequently Asked Questions
WHO ARE YOUR MOST COMMON CLIENTS?
Though The Financial Planning Co. has clients that span the entire spectrum of life stages, lifestyles, income levels, and wealth, we tend to see a lot of individuals/couples who are in their 30s and 40s and are interested in achieving an early retirement. Other client types that are common are individuals/households about to enter retirement (or in retirement already) and want a professional to provide insight into tax efficient distribution.
What do we do first after i decide to become a client?
First step is scheduling a Discovering Meeting. This is a 60-90 meeting wherein we’ll do a deep dive of your situation. Concurrent with this are some legal documents to share and sign as well as sharing of financial statements via a secure file sharing folder that will be setup by your Adviser.
How does the Investment Advisory fee Structure work?
Fees will be deducted directly out of your accounts on either a monthly or quarterly basis. Fees are applied on an after-the-fact basis and is calculated using a daily average balance.
What do I get if I work with The Financial Planning Co.?
Much of the value in working with a professional financial planner comes in the form of dialogue and education; however, clients of FPC do walk away with some deliverables as well.
Next Best Steps Guide: A 1-3 page list of short to intermediate-term to-do’s for you. These to-do’s are in bullet-point form and serve as more of a checklist than an analysis.
Personalized Policy Statements: Policy Statements are contracts between you and yourself. They guide future decision-making in areas such as saving, investing, or distributing assets through the use of rules. These are highly effective in battling the poor decisions that oftentimes come about when “winging it.”
Investment Policy Statement: Establishes rules for asset allocation, rebalancing frequency, what specific investments to use in which accounts, and when to make adjustments.
Savings Policy Statement: Establishes rules for how much to save, where to save, and when to make adjustments.
Distribution Policy Statement: Establishes rules for how how much is safe to withdraw in retirement, when to do Roth conversions, and when to make adjustments.
Tax Report: An analysis of current and prospective tax scenarios, which allows for discussions into potential tactics such as Roth conversions, charitable giving, or tax-gain harvesting.
Access to a robust financial planning software, which allows you and your planner to track net worth, model out future scenarios, and dive into the weeds of possible tax saving maneuvers, among many other features.
How often will we meet?
If you want to be an ongoing client, it is likely that we’ll meet 1-3 times per year, dependent on your situation, with more common e-mail interaction.
For financial planning only there is a 5 month minimum engagement period. Additionally, there is an expectation that investment management clients are clients for the very long-term. Please do not enter into an investment management engagement if there is an expectation of simply trying the service out.
Single session clients can be short-term or long-term clients.