The Financial Plan And Planners – Part 3

In this this part, I’ll pass on a useful summary of the things you want to know about professional financial planners.

Again, some of the material in this 3 part post are excerpts from the publication:  Wall Street Journal – Guide To Planning Your Financial Future, by Kenneth M. Morris and Alan M. Siegel, published by Lightbulb Press, 1992.

All text contained in quotes comes from the publication cited above.

“Look before you leap”  “Financial planning is a big investment of time and money, so look into it carefully.”  (Note- if you read to the end of this post, you’ll see that you can significantly reduce both time and money!)

And where can you look for professional financial planning help?  Our cited material lists the following:

• “Independent financial planners
• Employer provided planners
• Certified Public Accountants
• Banks
• Money management firms”

Now, be aware that these sources are not necessarily equivalent as to the quality of service provided, in terms of impartiality of recommendations, financial knowledge, or value for money paid for fees or commissions.  I emphasize this here because selecting professional assistance is a personal matter for you to research and decide for yourself.

And how does a professional financial planner get paid for service provided?  “Fee-only planners charge a flat rate or by the hour for their advice.”  “Other planners get a commission on products they sell … Still others offset their fees by the amount of commission they receive.”

“Before signing on with a financial planner, ask these questions:

• How are you paid?
• How do you set your fee?
• Which products do you make commissions on?
• What are your other sources of professional income?”

An important thing to remember is that your financial plan needs to be reviewed and updated periodically.  So the your planner will be someone you visit with more often than once in your lifetime.  “Your financial plan should be updated periodically, especially if there is a major change in your family or financial situation.  Major changes in the economy…should also trigger a review.”

You may remember that at the start of this Part 3 I said you could significantly reduce the amount of time and money needed for an effective plan.  To understand how, let’s first look at where your objectives match with the objectives of a competent, ethical professional planner:

• You don’t want the planning process to be based on inaccurate or incomplete information or communication – neither does your planner!
• You don’t want the planning process to take more time than necessary – neither does your planner!
• You don’t want the planning process to cost more than necessary – neither does your (ethical) planner!
• You do want the planning process to result in your financial well-being – and so does your planner!
• You do want the necessary plan reviews and updates to be gladly anticipated and pleasant – and so does your planner!

So, if you take as a given that you are working with an ethical planner, you’ll notice that reaching all of the common objectives listed above depends very much on you!

Helping you be the you that results in an effective financial plan is our 7 step MINT Method and the PlanButVerify Personal Financial Planner.

How does it help you?

• Leading you to think about everything you need to think of.
• Clearly reports your information so communication with your planner is clear.
• Time and money are not wasted while the planner tries to extract from you what needs to be known.
• The reports produced by our MINT Method can be tested and proved to work.
• Making changes to the plan when it needs to be revised and reviewed is quick and painless.  And the modified can also be tested and proved.

And if you are still wondering ‘So what?’, here’s what.

Your planner is now focused on his/her core strength, helping you implement a plan. You know, the one that you have proved will work!  What could beat that?

If you have not already gotten the free materials (including PlanButVerify-Lite), head to our Home Page and do so.  You owe yourself a very big favor!