Financial planning is the process of processing and implementing your financial goals. It’s the road map for getting you from Point A to Point B. It provides direction and meaning to your financial decisions, and planning allows you to understand how your financial decisions may affect other areas of your life. By viewing each financial decision in this context, you can consider its short and long-term effects on your goals. You can also adapt more easily to expected and unexpected changes and feel more secure that your goals are on track.

The financial planning process consists of six steps that help you take a look at the "big picture" of where you are financially. The process involves (i) gathering relevant information, (ii) setting goals, (iii) examining your current financial status, (iv) creating a strategy to attain your goals, (v) implementing the strategy, and (vi) monitoring the success of the financial plan, adjusting it along the way if necessary. Using these six steps, you can work out where you are now and what strategies you may need to implement in the future to reach your goals.

Typical questions that we help our clients address are:

• When can I retire?
• How much money will it cost to send my kids to college?
• What exposure will our heirs have to estate tax?
• How much insurance do I need?
• Is it better for me to pay cash for my home?
• What’s a reasonable expectation for the performance of our portfolio?
• Am I saving enough?
• How much money am I spending?