As wealth increases, it’s important to have a plan for your family’s finances — today and into the future. A strategic plan for spending, saving, and financing your retirement will ensure you can feel confident in your decisions.
Following these seven steps will help ensure you and your family understand your needs, goals, and values. It is essential to keep the big picture in mind so that all aspects of financial planning work together seamlessly and in a way that works for you.
Seven steps for effective financial planning
Follow these seven steps to plan for your financial future and ensure your family’s values inform your money management decisions:
1. Prioritize goals and objectives
Meet with your key family stakeholders. Together, you will discuss your family’s needs, wants, goals, values, risk tolerance, etc. and develop an in-depth understanding of where you want to go.
2. Develop a net worth statement, cash flow summary, and insurance analysis
Analyze various scenarios to understand how you can achieve your goals and objectives. It is essential to consider your family’s unique situation and plans for the future to ensure your financial plan works for you.
3. Develop financial projections and analysis
Visualize a range of options so you can see your future financial position across several possible scenarios. This allows you to make strong, realistic decisions for the future.
4. Complete a retirement planning assessment
Key questions include: How will your financial needs evolve? What do you plan on doing with your time? Will your investments generate enough income to live off of? How big of a nest egg do you want to leave for others?
5. Assess estate value and liquidity — now and into the future
Understand how your investments will appreciate over time, and ensure you have the liquidity to cover key expenses throughout the seasons of your life. This gives your family the ability to strategically plan for liquidity through insurance or other tools.
6. Identify tax strategies to optimize the financial position
Maximize your options for minimizing taxes over the long term. This could involve setting up trusts and transferring some assets today — or paying more in taxes now to minimize them in the future.
7. Develop an action plan to implement recommendations
Create a comprehensive financial plan for your family. Common deliverables include updating legal documents, applying for insurance, or putting programs in place to prepare your children for inheritance.
Putting your financial puzzle together
No two families are alike. We can help you create a financial strategy that’s as unique as your challenges, opportunities, and goals.
MNP’s Financial Planning advisors take a 30,000-foot view of your life to examine all the pieces of your financial puzzle and create a plan to ensure they all fit together. You can relax as each one slides into place, knowing that your overall lifestyle, values, and goals are being considered each step of the way.
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