Step 1

Get To Know You And Your Goals

Together we start with you, your family and your relationship with money.  You share your core values and how you feel about risk. Then we talk about your goals for this year, five years, ten years and beyond. We discuss topics like: do you have family members you need to financially support now or in the future?

Do you have children you want to help put through college? What sort of debt do you have? Do you want to change professions? Go back to school? Stop working? Start your own business?

The more I know about you, the better I understand where you are and the challenges we need to work through.  I will partner with you to help you reach your goals. Do you and your partner have shared or different goals? Not sure of your goals? Don’t worry, I have goal setting exercises to help reveal your priorities so we can plan for what’s important to you and your family.

Step 2

Gather Your Financial Information

After I understand your goals and priorities then I need to understand your current financial standing. I will need you to provide me with all of your relevant statements such as paychecks, bank statements, monthly bills, insurance, loans, savings; Investments:  long term savings accounts, company savings accounts and other insurance savings products; estate planning docs such as wills or trusts.

Step 3

Analyze Your Current Finances

I analyze your information to assess your current situation and determine what you must do to address your goals. Depending on what services you have asked for, this could include analyzing your assets, liabilities, current insurance coverage, investments or tax strategies.

I also spend time working through your current monthly spending habits aka your budget.  This gives me insight into how the family finances work on a monthly basis and where your money goes.   Based on your goals, this will help you determine if you need to squeeze any area of your budget, in order to fund some of your goals.

Step 4

Create and Present Your Financial Plan

This is where my personal financial knowledge and expertise brings you a lot of value. Now that I understand who you are, your current financial standing, I create a plan to address your goals.  I will walk you through the plan with you to help you understand them so that you can make informed decisions. We will talk through any concerns and revise the recommendations as appropriate.

Your financial plans will list out which financial vehicles to invest in and the percentage of your funds. It will also reveal the year in which you are likely to reach your goals. Yes, I will tell you when you can retire! Even run a thousand simulations, yes a thousand, to determine the chances of achieving your goals based on different market factors and investments to ensure the plan will succeed.

Once we agree on how the recommendations will be carried out, I put your plan into action. I carry out the recommendations by opening accounts, distributing and/or redistributing your funds to align with your plan.  This may include rolling over an old 401k and coordinating the whole process with you and other professionals such as estate attorneys or insurance brokers.

Once the plan is in effect, my work doesn’t stop. I continue to watch and review your progress. We meet quarterly to review your situation and make adjustments, if needed as your life changes. Note: this is a key differentiator that I offer, I will hold you accountable by checking in with you and meeting at least quarterly where we will make adjustments to your plan and investments as needed.

Curious to learn more about how Chamberlain Financial Advisors can help you?

Contact Josh or set up an initial consultation.