What is Financial Planning? What is Wealth Management? What's the difference?
As Certified Financial Planners™, we adhere to the six-step process established by the CFP BOARD:
- Establish and Define our Relationship
- Gather Data and Develop Financial Goals
- Analyze and Evaluate Financial Status
- Review Written Recommendations
- Implement – Set the Course
- Benchmark and Monitor Progress against Established Goals
Creating a financial plan helps you see the big picture and set long and short-term life goals, a crucial step in mapping out your financial future. When you have a strategy and a financial plan, it’s easier to make financial decisions and stay on track to pursue your goals. Working with a CFP® professional can manage your financial well-being and give you financial confidence.
Financial planning helps you understand the impact that each financial decision has on other areas of your financial life. For example, increasing contributions to your employer-sponsored retirement plan affects your cash flow, taxes, investment portfolio and retirement plan. This integrated approach to managing your wealth provides clarity and confidence to your financial decisions. You can also adapt readily to life transitions and gain a sense of empowerment knowing that you are progressing towards your financial goals.
Wealth management is a comprehensive investment practice that encompasses financial planning, investment portfolio management, risk management, tax planning strategies, and estate-planning services. Wealth management is a holistic approach to understanding and providing tactical strategies to the many financial concerns of your financial life. Just as your primary care physician serves as gatekeeper to coordinate the care given by various providers and collaborates with referral specialists, a wealth manager acts as a relationship manager to better serve the client.
As we grow, our financial lives become more complex. Many of our clients value a streamlined integrative approach to managing their financial affairs.
Whether you want a comprehensive financial plan from scratch, a second-opinion on your existing plan, or are looking to consolidate your assets as you prepare to retire, we have what you need – and more than 35 years of experience delivering effective plans.