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Financial Planning Process
The financial planning process is an in-depth six step process designed to ensure a thorough and complete financial plan.
1. Initial meeting between client and planner. At this complimentary meeting, we will discuss your needs for a comprehensive financial plan and if our firm is right for you. If you wish to retain our firm, we will provide questionnaires to complete prior to the next meeting. You may download the questionnaires from this website and we encourage you to review them before this meeting. We will also provide you with an estimate of the plan preparation fee and a list of the information and documents we will need from you to complete the plan.
2. Define goals/objectives and gather data. At this second meeting, we will examine your financial priorities, objectives and concerns in more detail, review your balance sheets, income statements and client questionnaires and address risk tolerance and investment time horizon issues. At this time, we will request a retainer of one-half of the planning fee to begin our analysis.
3. Analysis and Evaluation. We will analyze the data and information you have provided up to this point. We will evaluate your general financial status, identify and quantify particular needs and prepare specific recommendations. We may require additional information from you during this process.
4. Final Plan Presentation. We will prepare final written reports outlining and quantifying your financial goals and objectives, identifying any deficiencies and providing specific recommendations. We will present our report to you, along with an in-depth discussion of our analysis and recommendations. We encourage you to schedule a minimum of one hour and preferably two hours to allow for a thorough plan review. At this meeting, the balance of the plan fee is due.
5. Plan Implementation. At this stage, you may retain us to implement any investment recommendations indicated in the plan. We can coordinate with other professionals, such as attorneys, CPAs or insurance agents to implement the non-investment recommendations. Without implementation, the financial plan has no value.
6. Monitor and Update. The financial plan should be reviewed regularly after implementation to determine your progress on achieving the plan recommendations. Changes in your personal circumstances should also be evaluated to insure that our original recommendations are still appropriate. In addition, we will address any tax law changes that may impact our original recommendations. We recommend a formal annual review of the plan.
*The financial analysis and recommendations does not constitute tax, legal, or accounting advice and neither John Hancock, Signator Investors, Inc., nor any of its agents, employees, or registered representatives are in the business of offering such advice. It is not intended for the use and can not be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding any IRS penalty. Anyone interested in these transactions or topics should seek the advice based on his or her particular circumstances from independent professional advisors.
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