Financial Life Planning

Financial Life Planning®

Because of the unpredictability of life and the complexity of financial markets, it is essential to work with a financial advisor who can help you to achieve your financial goals. In addition, it is important to select an advisor who truly cares about what is most important to you and who understands your needs and aspirations.

As you focus on defining and designing your unique version of “quality of life,” it will be important for you to choose a financial professional who is “life-centered.” That means he or she is dedicated to understanding your unique history, circumstances, life transitions, values, and priorities in order to make the most appropriate financial planning recommendations. 

Fortunately, there is a small, but growing cadre of advisors who are turning to this more holistic approach to client services. These forward-thinking professionals are pioneers in a trend of integrating financial planning and life planning. Rather than the traditional financial conversation focused on “more is better,” these unconventional Financial Life Planners®1 will demonstrate a genuine interest in helping you to achieve your life goals.
 
What is Financial Life Planning®?
 
“Life planning is a process of…
1.      Helping people focus on the true values and motivations of their lives;
2.      Determining the goals and objectives they have as they see their lives develop; and
3.      Using these values, motivations, goals, and objectives to guide the planning process and provide a framework for making choices and decisions in life that have financial and non-financial implications or consequences.”2
 
In their book Life Matters, authors Roger and Rebecca Merrill write, “Both what and how we spend dramatically impacts the quality of our lives, the quality of our relationships, and the legacy we leave to our children—not only in terms of dollars and cents, but also in terms of character, financial intelligence and the ability to interact in positive ways around money matters.”
 
A “life-centered” financial advisor seeks to fulfill three roles on behalf of their clients:
 
  • A partner who will strive to understand your life goals and objectives and, then help you to achieve them. He or she will also communicate a willingness to stand by you through the difficulties of life and to help you successfully navigate the financial implications of all life transitions.
  • A guide who will use in-depth knowledge and insight to help you develop an individualized financial life plan. In this role, your advisor will nurture your “money maturity” by monitoring, mentoring and affirming your progress.
  • An educator who will look for opportunities to increase your financial knowledge, communicating in easy to understand language that engages your thinking. As you understand your various financial options with their associated advantages and disadvantages, you will be empowered to make wise financial decisions.
 
What are the Benefits of Financial Life Planning®?
 
Many individuals express greater financial success and satisfaction when they see a more direct link between their financial planning activities and their life goals. They also feel more motivated to make improvements in their money matters when they view their financial resources as a means to express and support their values and priorities.
 
This increased insight allows your advisor to create the most appropriate financial solutions into a realistic, attainable set of financial priorities. This unique approach allows advisors to help clients to achieve:
 
  • Improvement in being a good steward of what they have been entrusted
  • Improvement in their financial resilience
  • Improvement in their financial awareness
  • Improvement in their relationship with money
  • Decreased financial stress

1Financial Life Planning® is a trademark of Money Quotient, Inc. and is used by permission.
2 “Experts Examine Emerging Concept of ‘Life Planning,’” Journal of Financial Planning, June 2001

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