Okay, so the Plan is in place. What happens next?
This is where most of our “competitors” fall down, letting your plan collect dust on a shelf. Conversely, this is where we shine. As stewards of your wealth, we are interested in making sure that you get your financial house in order and that it stays in order as your life evolves.
We go back to the plan on a regular basis, updating it with the most current information and using it as a guide to help you make ongoing decisions and review the ones you’ve already made.
At least annually, we ask and answer The Four Questions:
- Over the period in question and since we started planning together, what did we think would happen (how much would you earn, save, pay in taxes, spend, earn on your investments, etc.)?
- What has actually happened?
- Knowing what we do now, what do we think will happen going forward?
- All things considered, what should we do now?
Answering these questions is one of those “simple but not easy” things. To do so, we go back to our Framework for Making Optimal Decisions and your Compelling Vision of the Future. These foundational tools help organize our thoughts, ensure that the important and timely issues are addressed, and serve as your personal “financial scorecard,” keeping track of all the variables that need to come together in order to help you
with the Resources You Have.
In the bigger picture, if we are professionally overseeing your investment or insurance portfolio, you can rest assured we will be reviewing performance, rebalancing your asset mix, conducting valuable research, and keeping you educated on topics that are relevant to you. And we don’t have any of the common biases and conflicts that can get in the way of many advisors giving objective advice, such as being beholden to a particular investment or insurance company. We recommend only what we think is appropriate. Most importantly, we will never fall into the trap of believing, or encouraging you to believe, that asset management on its own is a substitute for proactive, strategic, holistic, and fully-informed financial planning. You need both, and we do both—exceptionally well. And you can hold us to that.