F UNDAMENTAL
F INANCIAL P LANNING
I NTERVIEW G UIDE
Client Centered Financial Interview Techniques
and
M AKING THE M OST OF
P LANNING E NGAGEMENTS
Developing and Delivering Financial Plans
Mark Snodgrass
President
Money Tree Software, Ltd
F UNDAMENTAL
F INANCIAL P LANNING
I NTERVIEW G UIDE
Client Centered Financial Interview Techniques
Mark Snodgrass
President
Money Tree Software, Ltd
9/1/2011
Fundamental Financial Planning Interview Guide
Money Tree Software developed this fundamental guide for use with Silver Financial Planner and similar financial planning applications.
For both you and your client’s comfort, it pays to plan out your initial financial interview in
advance. Having a starting agenda and knowing some of the questions you will ask can reduce
the time it takes to collect financial data and leaves you more time to talk about clients’ values,
wants and needs. Some people are unaccustomed to talking about finances. Having an organized
interview plan goes a long way in projecting a professional attitude that can help put people at
ease. Use your judgment; the point is to get the most complete financial information and
evaluation you can while getting to know your client.
These guidelines apply to all interviews. You can use, modify, — or eliminate — any of the
questions illustrated in this guide. The point is to quickly and painlessly collect enough
information to create a representative model of the client’s present and future financial position.
With financial planning results in hand you can discuss specific details of client’s financial
issues, options, and the decisions they need to consider based on their report.
The interview question examples in this guide represent just one side of a conversation, and do
not include answers or follow up questions. The interviewer should use their own conversational
style to gather the needed information while getting to know the clients feelings about money
and investments.
Note that the interview process is divided into two parts. In the first part, the information
gathering stage, you obtain information about the client. In the second stage, you let the client
know about the analysis you’ve made, and help them decide on necessary actions.
Conducting the Interview
There are distinct parts to an interview, and each of them is important. To make sure that you
cover all the bases in your interview, use this outline as a guide:
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
Establish rapport and set some goals. Greet the client with a pleasant smile, firm
handshake, and a casual statement or two. Outline the interview objectives and
structure. For example, say, "In the time we have today, I would like to..."
Put yourself on the same side of the table as the client. Make this a team effort;
verbalize that you’re working with the client to meet their objectives. When talking
use “we”, as in “With your answers we can build and review…”
Gather information. Ask for specific information about client finances and budget.
Be certain to use open-ended questions (how, what, when, etc.), and always try to
follow up a yes or no answer with an open-ended question.
Give information about the analysis and even "sell" the report. Be sure to do this
after you've obtained the answers to your interview questions. If you tell the applicants
exactly what you're looking for first, they can adapt their answers to fit what they
perceive as your needs.
Close the interview. Thank the client for his or her time and interest. Indicate what
the next step will be and the time frame within which it will occur. If appropriate,
schedule an appointment time.
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 1 of 8
Financial Planning Interview
Introduction
When the client arrives for your meeting, make an effort to establish rapport and put him or her
at ease using a friendly, businesslike attitude. Introduce yourself. Let the applicant know that
you're glad that they've come, that you respect the value of their time, and that you have set aside
sufficient uninterrupted time to conduct the interview. Help the client understand that they have
your full attention, and that you are there to answer their questions and meet their needs.
“Hello Mike. Nice to see you, glad to meet you. I’m happy we could get together today. I know
you’re busy, so I’ll try and make sure we get this all done quickly and so we can get you the
information you need. I’ve got plenty of time today, so as we go along, stop me if you have
questions. I’m here to help you make sense of the details as well as the big picture here, so let
me know anytime something’s not making sense.”
You can start the interview with chatter about hobbies, interests, etc., if you are comfortable
doing so. It sets clients at ease, and get them used to answering questions.
“Have you taken a vacation this summer? What did you do? / What are doing? ”
Or you can simply ask one of the following open-ended financial questions:
"How did you happen to become interested in this financial planning analysis?"
"How did you hear of the planning report? Oh yeah, how did they like theirs? What do you
hope to learn or accomplish as a result of this planning process? What are you looking for
from this planning report?"
Depending on the response you receive, you can work in an overview of what you have planned
for the meeting. This briefly states what you want to achieve in the meeting.
"Before we start, let me give you some idea of what we might try and cover today. We’ll want
to review your finances, financial experiences, and your retirement objectives. With this
information we can make a report to help us see where you are financially, help you
understand some of the options you have, and help us set a path that will let you meet your
retirement objectives.”
Begin by asking the basic questions. As you collect information, listen for clues about additional
questions you may need to ask. If you ask how many children the client has, and they say “two
so far”, you may want to ask about what they mean.
“Lets start with a couple basic questions. Is this how you spell your name? How old are you?
Birth date? Are you married? What is your spouse’s name? Do I have that spelled right? Birth
date? Do you have children? How many? What are their names? What are their ages? At
what age do you plan on retiring, or slowing down? At what age does your spouse plan on
retiring?”
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 2 of 8
Personal Assets and Debts
Using the application input system as a guide, inquire about major assets such as house, car,
boat, RV, et cetera. As you get the values for each, make a note of the description. Make sure
you are getting the client’s best estimate of the actual current value, not the price they paid a few
years ago, or the optimistic price they hope to get in a few years.
“Well Mike, let’s talk about your personal assets. I mean thinks like house, furnishing, cars,
boat, and vacation property… Things like that. Do you have a house? What do you estimate its
current market value might be right now? What about your personal property inside, like
furniture, appliances, art, tools, clothes and stuff?”
People often have a hard time estimating the current value of their personal household property.
You may need to prompt or suggest a value to use as a placeholder. If someone is not sure about
the value, and really has no good guess, suggest a representative number to use in the analysis.
The actual value is not used anywhere except in the net worth summary, so a rough
approximation is quite sufficient.
“Mike, I understand it’s hard to know the value of your personal household property. Let’s,
for sake of argument, just put down $20,000 for now. It’s a reasonable guess; we’re really just
looking for an approximation here. How’s that sound? Too high, too low, OK?”
If the client lives in an apartment, or rents a house, an initial guess of $10,000 may be
appropriate. If they own their home, an initial suggestion of $20,000 may be reasonable. Let the
client adjust any number you suggest until they feel comfortable with the number.
Continue on to discuss cars and other vehicles. These are often hard to value, so help by
suggesting what you’re looking for as far as fair current market value.
“Let’s see, how about cars? Boats? RVs? Planes? We’re looking for current value, what the
car might be worth if you were going to buy it from, or sell it to a private party.”
After you have listed short descriptions and values for vehicles, ask about other assets. Make
some suggestions of what you mean. After they have given you the assets, probe a little more to
make sure they have included everything.
“How about other things or property you own; vacation homes, land, art, coin collections?
Do you own part of anything, like a shared interest in a family cabin?”
Collecting information on the debt side is very much the same as assets. Inquire about the
remaining balance and years left on the mortgage if they have a house, ask about the average
credit card debt they carry, ask about department store debt, and see if they have any loans on
vehicles. Again, try and explain that it’s the current amount due, not the original amount. Often
people won’t remember exactly how much they still owe, so work to obtain a good
approximation. Probe for any other loans or debts they may have such as student loans.
“Now on the debt side, how much do you still owe on your mortgage? What is the average
balance on your credit cards? Any other credit cards; Sears, Nordstrom’s, Chevron? How
much do you still owe on your car? Any other debts? Student loans? Anything else?”
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 3 of 8
Income, Miscellaneous Income and Monthly Payments
To get a full picture of the client’s finances, we need to find out the amount of their primary
work income, other miscellaneous income and issues affecting their employment. In order to
gauge the client’s debt load, we want to collect some information about items they pay monthly.
All this information is somewhat sensitive for many people, so it may help to explain the reason
for the questions while you are asking for the information.
“Mike, what’s your gross income from your position at work? What I mean is, what’s your
total annual income amount before any taxes or retirement plan deductions. This will give us
a way to estimate your social security benefits, and calculate some other numbers in the
report. Do you have any other incomes like part time work, rental income or anything? About
how much per month?”
“And how about your wife? What is her total gross income before taxes, contributions, or
other deductions? Does she have any part time work or other monthly incomes?
“Let’s go over some of your monthly budget figures Mike. This gives us a way to help you
gauge your borrowing potential. What’s your monthly mortgage payment or rent payment?
The mortgage amount we want to use is just the principal and interest, not any insurance they
sometimes add to the amount. What’s your normal credit card payment amount? Any auto
loan payments Mike? Any other monthly payments you have to make; student loans, child
support, alimony, et cetera?”
You may want to restate the information you get back to the client just to double-check the
numbers and at the same time validate that the client understood the gross income concept.
Expenses
There are four expense items that need to be discussed and ultimately estimated by the client
with your assistance. Help the client understand that these numbers do not need to be exact; good
approximations are acceptable for our purposes.
Current annual expenses: Current annual expenses are pretty clear, these are all the costs that
clients now incur to maintain their existing lifestyle. If you take the amount of take home pay
and reduce it for savings you pretty much arrive at current expenses.
“Mike lets talk a little bit about your living expenses. About how much per month you spend
on everything? We’re looking for the total of your mortgage (or rent), car payment, insurance,
food, gas, movies, coffee and everything. You might say it’s your household take home pay,
less your savings.”
Current survivor expenses: These are the expenses necessary to maintain the household in the
event of a death. In many cases current survivor expenses would be exactly the same as current
annual expenses; it would take the same amount of money to maintain the household. In other
cases current survivor expenses might decrease or even increase. Consider reduction in car
payments, cleaning bills and entertainment expenses. On the other hand, consider the costs
associated with daycare, housekeeping, etc. in the event of the death of a homemaker.
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 4 of 8
“I know it’s not something you’ve probably thought about, but if something were to happen to
you or your wife what would it cost to run and maintain the household? Would the surviving
spouse be able to reduce household living expenses, or would they pretty much stay the same?
Do you think you would need to hire someone to help out with childcare or housekeeping?”
Estimated retirement expense: This is the amount required by the client to maintain their
planned retirement lifestyle. Many clients expect retirement living will be less expensive than
their current lifestyle. That may be true if they have paid the mortgage and expect to reduce
commuting, wardrobe, and other work related costs. In many cases however, retirement expenses
will approach, or exceed, their current annual expenses due to health and long-term care
insurance, prescriptions, travel and other costs associated with the retirement life phase.
“What are your expectations for your household expenses in retirement? How will retirement
affect your spending habits? Are there expenses that you will eliminate when you retire? Will
your health care be paid for?”
Estimated retirement survivor expenses: Late in retirement, when the first individual of a couple
passes on, what will it cost to maintain the other’s lifestyle. Expenses for one individual can
sometimes be somewhat lower due to reduced day-to-day costs, healthcare expenses for one, and
reduced prescription costs.
“The retirement expenses for a couple may change when the first person passes away. For our
estimation purposes, we can start with retirement expenses and go from there. Let’s assume
for planning purposes that costs stay the same, is that reasonable?”
Education Expenses and other Special Issues
There are some areas of client’s financial lives that may be difficult to model, may be
unpredictable, or a little unknown. These special issues are best represented simply, and in a way
that allows discussion, but is clearly understood that the values themselves are estimates.
Education Costs are one area that may be estimated, guessed at, but are rather unknown. To
begin with, it’s hard to know what school a child will decide to attend, it can be hard to estimate
what financial aid may be available, and it is very hard to predict how many years it will take a
student to graduate. Knowing these variables exist, it’s still worthwhile to make some ‘educated
guesses’. Education costs can be calculated but not included in the retirement projection, there is
an option on the input page to include or exclude education expenses.
“Mike, lets talk about your child’s education plans. Do you expect her to go to college? Do you
have any guess as to the kind of school she might attend? Oh, you’ve talked about her going to
that nice little college up state, very nice. Have you thought about how much of her college
costs you plan to pay? Well, lets assume that the college costs are $25,000 per year today. That
includes tuition, books, housing, dining, entertainment, and travel. You may be able to expect
$4,000-$5,000 of financial aid from the school. That leaves $20,000 per year for 4 or 5 years.
Let’s estimate five years to see the results in the illustration. We can’t really know if she’ll go
to that school, get that assistance, or go all five years, but this will give us some numbers to
consider and talk about.”
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 5 of 8
Major Expenses are, like education, future costs for which clients would like plan. These might
be things such as saving a down payment or the full cost of a house, boat or car. Perhaps it’s
saving enough money to start a business. The illustration gives the client and planner some
numbers to discuss such as monthly or yearly savings amounts required to meet the objective.
Also like education, Major Expenses can be calculated but not included in the retirement
projection. An option is on the input page to include or exclude Major Expenses.
“Mike, are there any other financial objectives you’re saving money to achieve? You’re saving
up the down payment for a boat? How much is that? You figure the down payment is about
$5,000, and you want it in two years. What is the price inflation rate on boats? We can put
some information in, and we’ll have some numbers to consider and talk about.”
The Special Expenses and Special Incomes parts of the planning system allows for very flexible
modeling for all kinds of expense and income patterns. Clients may or may not have an
understanding of what these planning issues are. You may need to carefully listen to the client
and recognize that they may talk about “a little consulting income for a few years after they
retire”, but what they are really saying is “Special Income”. They may say, “when we retire, we
want to take a full six months and travel around the world”, but they really mean “we are going
to have a major one year Special Expense the year we retire.”
“Are there other future expenses or incomes that we might want to consider as we look into
your financial future? Do you have any plans for big expenses, big purchases, or significant
costs? How about incomes? Do you expect any balloon payments or inheritances? Do you
expect to do any work or consulting after you retire?”
Pension and Social Security
Clients may have just a general idea about their retirement benefits from a pension. It can be very
valuable to review the actual specifics of the pension calculations with them. Sometimes their
expectations of the pension benefits don’t match the calculations reality, but it’s better for the
client to have a valid estimate than to be surprised just when they are ready to retire.
“Mike, will you or your wife get pension benefits from your current employer, the military or
some previous employer? Oh, you’ll get a government pension. Nice. Well let’s get your start
date and I make a working estimate for us. These pension numbers will be based upon some
assumptions, but should help us understand the general picture of the benefit.”
Clients participating in Social Security have some basic choices they will need to make. Not
everyone who retires starts taking Social Security benefits right away. Most people eligible for
Social Security benefits can start taking reduced benefits as early as age 62. Waiting to get
benefits until 65, 66, or 67 will increase the amount of monthly benefit. The client should
understand the tradeoff of getting smaller benefits earlier versus getting larger benefits later.
“Have you given any thought as to when you want to start taking Social Security benefits?
You know that according to Social Security your ‘full retirement age’ is 67. You’ve said you
and your wife plan on retiring before that age. If you start taking Social Security benefits at
that age, you’ll get a lower benefit every month, and once that reduction is made, it’s
permanent. Some professional think it’s still the best way to go, because once you retire the
smaller benefit now is better than a bigger benefit later.
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 6 of 8
Investment Assets
Obtaining all the information about the client’s financial investments can be a little daunting. If
you approach the task with the understanding that you really only need the general picture, you’ll
be able to get the information you need quickly and in enough detail to offer the client a good
representation of their retirement picture.
Work to obtain account and asset values that are representative. It’s not necessary to get the
latest, exact dollar amount in each and every asset. Some of the accounts values fluctuate, some
have regular monthly addition amounts, and some values are just going to be guesses by the
client. As long as you and the client know that the actual numbers are reasonable best estimates,
the results will be useful for discussion purposes. The same thing is true of the investment
description. The client may know that they have $30,000 in some stock mutual, but they may not
know if it’s a balanced fund, growth fund, small cap fund or aggressive growth fund. For the
first interview, help them make a reasonable guess. The results will be valuable, and the client
will better understand the questions they need to be asking.
“Let’s go ahead and get make a full list of all your assets. We can begin with your checking
and savings… Do you have any CDs? Any other ‘bank type’ assets? Ok, lets see, do you have
assets in a brokerage account or mutual funds? Are they taxable? Any bonds, municipal
bonds or bond funds? Do you or your wife have an IRA or Roth IRA? Do you have a 401(k),
403(b), 451 or any other retirement plan at your current employer? How about your wife? Ok,
we’ve got the totals, lets talk about the individual investments you have in the accounts. We
don’t have to go into great detail, but lets at least look at how your investments are spread out
for stability and diversification.”
Gauge Financial Confidence, Investment Attitude and Experience, Risk Tolerance
As the interview progresses it will often become apparent just how comfortable the client is
when talking about their money. Asking direct questions about the client’s experience and
feelings will give the client an opportunity to directly express their thoughts and concerns. Good
planning requires allowance for the human element. Well-planned investment strategies will not
work over time if the client can’t sleep at night, or won’t even start the implementation process.
Ask some open-ended questions about the client’s feeling, beliefs and ideas regarding money,
opportunity and risk. Quietly listen. Draw them out. Explore issues they bring up in their
answers. Making sure clients really understand their own place in the investment world can be an
important step in the process of helping them comfortably and rationally manage their retirement
investments for the long term.
“I want to get an idea about your attitudes regarding money and investments. A good place to
start would be your investment experience. I'm interested in how long you’ve been investing,
the investments you've held, what your expectations were, and what you thought of the results.
What have you liked and disliked about your investments. How would you describe yourself as
an investor? What’s been your best investment? What’s been your worst investment?"
Once you have a good understanding of the client’s attitude, have them help you choose a oneword description: conservative, moderately conservative, moderate or aggressive.
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 7 of 8
Insurance
Collecting insurance information is straightforward. You may need to prod and prompt to help
remind clients where insurance policies may exist. The actual detail about the policy type is not
critical. It is important however to differentiate between term policies which will likely end at or
prior to retirement and permanent insurance policies which will continue in force through the
retirement years.
“Mike, do you have term insurance? You might get it through work. Do you know how much?
How about your wife, does she have some? How about other insurance, do you know your
coverage? Do you know if it whole life, universal or variable?”
Rate and Tax Assumptions
You need to explain the Investment returns & Tax Rate assumptions you are going to use in the
projections and report. It’s not necessary to explain each assumption, but you should make a
concerted effort to explain that the assumptions are not expectations or guarantees. The
assumptions are just some reasonable averages based upon what has happened to other people in
the past. Their results may not match the assumptions, the future rarely repeats the past, and our
crystal ball is in the shop all this week.
“Mike, as I work on this report for you, I’ll be using some estimates for things line interest,
investment growth and tax rates. These estimates are really just our best guess of what will
happen in the future based upon what has happened in the past. These numbers are not any
kind of guarantee or promise. These are just some representative assumptions that we will use
to discuss what we think the future might hold.”
Discussion
It’s valuable to let the client ask question at the end of the interview. This is also a time when
client often bring up issues, assets, debts, problems and questions that didn’t come up in the
course of the interview. This is also a good time to give them some of your impressions and
initial analysis. Getting some of the good or bad news early can often reduce the stress or
pressure people experience when evaluating their retirement plans.
"Well Mike, I think I’ve got most everything I need here to put together a pretty good picture
of where you are, and where things are headed. Do you have any other comments or
questions? Did I leave anything out, anything we forgot? No? Ok. My first impression Mike is
that you’ve done a good job preparing for retirement, and it seems that you’ve got pretty
reasonable retirement expectations. I’ll put together a report so we can discuss some of the
details and we can review where to go from here.”
Conclusion
Let the applicant know what's likely to happen next, whether another interview will be needed,
when you will have a finished report to discuss with them.
"Let me review what the next steps are.”
"I want to thank you for coming today.”
Financial Planning Interview Guide 9/1/2011
Copyright 2011 Money Tree Software
Page 8 of 8
M AKING THE M OST OF
P LANNING E NGAGEMENTS
Developing and Delivering Financial Plans
Mark Snodgrass
President
Money Tree Software, Ltd
5/3/2012
Making the Most of Planning Engagements
D EVELOPING
AND
D ELIVERING F INANCIAL P LANS
Clients are unique, as are all advisors. Each client and advisor employ their own personal
communication styles in different kinds of conversations, with different people, and at many
various levels of trust. For advisors to get the most out of meetings, they need to be sensitive
to how clients are communicating. For clients to feel most satisfied with their professional
advisor, advisors must be sensitive to their own communication styles and trust levels.
Every Client is Different. Embrace the Difference!
When you come right down to it, the planning process, from start to finish, is mostly about
discovering and really understanding clients’ unique financial reality, how they individually
interact with that reality, and how you and they can work together to improve that reality.
Every client’s financial reality is different. Even more importantly, each client’s worldview
and values system is totally their own, making how they understand and interact with their
ever-changing personal financial reality an absolutely private and unexpected experience.
Advisors have the opportunity to become
a participant in their client’s private
financial world. If advisors earn and
develop trust, they can be permitted to
share in the very personal thoughts and
considerations that constantly affect the
financial decisions and ultimate success
of each of their unique clients.
Clients need to feel a real
connection before they can
share all their deepest fears
and very highest hopes.
Customize Communication
Truly discovering who someone is when it comes to money can be so much more than simply
names, ages, account numbers, and balances. Learning how people operate internally begins
with developing communication with them and building trust. Clients often want to offer
facts, but need to be encouraged to communicate financial personality and individual values.
Balancing the process of gathering necessary financial information with the experience of
learning who clients are constitutes the art of interviewing. Interviewing is a directed
conversation to achieve the data collection objective while sharing who you are, and learning
who your client is. Asking open ended questions about feelings, worries, hopes and plans lets
clients share what’s most important to them.
Ask, listen, and learn. Repeat. Let communication and trust levels build by listening actively.
Encourage more detail, more depth. Find what worries; what excites. Find client’s blue
horizons. Let the interview assist the client in telling their story. It’s a voyage of discovery.
5/3/2012
Copyright 2012 Money Tree Software Ltd.
Page 1
You Are the Expert. You Deserve Clients’ Trust. Earn it!
When an advisor meets with a client, they need to take on the professional role. There is
work to be done, and it can be social, but at its core, it needs to be professional. Clients won’t
take you seriously if you don’t take yourself seriously. Clients need to know that as the
advisor, your expertise and knowledge is fundamentally part of the plan, that you take the
responsibility seriously, and are honored to be part of their financial support system.
Somewhere early in the interview, each advisor should present his or her role, and explain
his or her process. Find your own words, but make it clear, “I’m here today to learn as much
as I can about you, your finances, your plans, your concerns, and your dreams. I’m here as a
professional, and the more information you can give me, the better I can apply my knowledge
and tools to helping you more confidently achieve your objectives. If you ever have concerns
about why I’m asking a question, please let me know. Or if you’d like to give me more
information, or think maybe I didn’t ask the right question, please let me know. The better I
can fully understand you and your situation, the better results we can achieve together.”
How can advisors communicate trustworthiness? First, focus on the client. Ask what they
want out of the engagement. What are their expectations? Second, take on the role of expert,
and verbalize your willingness to share your expertise. Make sure clients understand that
you need to be fully informed to adequately grasp their unique situation, thought processes,
and personal values before you can provide properly individualized expert advice.
Clients Deserve Your Complete Attention
Good communication is a two way street. You may be asking the questions during an
interview, but what you really are doing is creating a space for back and forth
communication. Everyone has different comfort levels, and getting communications started,
particularly on the topic of money, can take a little time. When you listen attentively and
respectfully, people will feel more comfortable giving you additional personal information.
Giving your clients a
chance to talk about
their hopes gives them
permission to think
about their dreams.
As you ask questions, listen. Stop and give
clients all the time they need to answer and tell
you their own particular story. Don’t jump the
gun. Don’t assume you know where a client’s
story is going. Don’t cut clients off as they are
trying to find words. The interview is not where
you need to prove your expertise and insight;
interviewing is where you get to show your
interest, and learn all you can about the unique
individuals with whom you are working.
Taking notes makes sense in most interviews, but don’t let it interfere with communication.
When someone is telling you a story; pay close attention. You may want to fill out forms, but
don’t let that become the driving force. Maintain a conversation beyond the numbers; find
the story, the choices, and the motivations. Look for the real meaning behind the numbers.
Now that you know the numbers, and what they really represent to your client, you can start
developing a picture of where your client is, and plan for where they want to be in the future.
5/3/2012
Copyright 2012 Money Tree Software Ltd.
Page 2
Developing, Analyzing and Delivering Financial Plans
Every client is different, making every planning engagement unique. There are many similar
steps almost about every advisor goes through during the planning process once the client
interview and data collection is complete. For more detailed information on client interviews,
refer to the Money Tree Interview Guide. Here is a list of common planning steps.
Planning Process Steps:
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
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Signed Planning Agreement
Data Gathering and Review
Analyzing Initial Results
Problems & Opportunities
Identifying Client Values
Modifications & Scenarios
Highlight 3 Features & Actions
Planning Client Meeting
Client Meeting Steps:

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Verifying Assumptions
Explaining Process & Math
Reviewing the Plan
Point Out Important Features
Discussing Client Values
Reviewing Three Actions
Getting Client Buy-In
Planning Implementation
Starting the Planning Process – Data Entry and Review
Once you have all the data, and you’ve
checked it for completeness, you’re ready
to start entering values into your financial
planning software. While all software is
somewhat different, there are some basic
tips and tricks to make the process easier.


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

Check for reasonableness
Check for completeness
Is that number per month, or per year?
Questioning a number?
Looking for more information?
Call or e-mail the client…
The easiest time to correct data collection issues is during the data entry process. Asking for
clarification and additional detail is very often part of the professional planning process.
Contacting your client for confirmation and clarification can help put you both at ease.
Analyzing Initial Planning Results
The client data is all entered into the
planning software, and you’ve checked it
twice
for
reasonableness
and
completeness. Now run a basic planning
report and take a look at some of the
results. Most software has a capital
summary page which acts as a central
calculation sheet. This page is where you
can check the basic financial facts and
functions of the plan you’ve just entered.
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Are the current clients ages correct?
Do the life expectancies look right?
Do all the capital assets appear?
Do annual growth and taxes add up?
Are savings & contributions as planned?
Do life insurance policies pay out?
Do income streams grow as expected?
Do retirement expenses starting correctly?
Are Social Security and Pensions right?
Do education and special expenses show?
As preliminary report results are reviewed, and the data validation process has begun, take
time to make sure the core planning assumptions like rates of return, tax rates, and inflation
values are correct and appropriate for the plan.
5/3/2012
Copyright 2012 Money Tree Software Ltd.
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Uncovering Planning Issues and Discovering Opportunities
An in-depth review of planning results is one of the most important and informative parts of
the entire planning process. While various financial planning reports may differ, there are
fundamental steps that can make the detailed review process more accurate and complete.
Start by going over the client information and assumptions in the report again. Are the plan
inputs right? With the client information at hand, go over year-by-year calculation report
pages to look for life and plan events. Does the general plan make sense to you? Are incomes,
expenses, Social Security and pensions all increasing at the rate you expect? Do all the assets
add up? Are asset additions showing as planned? Are the client’s assets earning and being
taxed as you expect? If you can’t figure out a number or find a solution to a report question,
you might want to call technical support. Many times a five minute phone call can save you
time and allow you to develop more in-depth knowledge of your financial planning software.
If you find a retirement shortfall, or see some other significant planning risk, make a note.
Some software has summary pages to point out issues and potential solutions. You, as the
advisor, get to look through the entire plan for potential risks, hazards, gaps, and shortfalls.
You also should keep a lookout for expenses that could be trimmed, savings that could be tax
advantaged, future taxes that could be reduced, and assets that may be underperforming.
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Do plan numbers match the inputs? Do the ages, totals, rates, and taxes make sense?
Check for reasonableness. Is the plan, and all of its parts, reasonable on the surface?
Do the graphs and tables tell the story you expect? Are the gaps and bumps explained?
Is there a shortfall or a surplus? If there is a shortage, is it small or significant?
Do you have a probability of success? Or does the plan look stable and sustainable?
Do Social Security and pensions appear right? Do they grow before and after retirement?
Do insurance policies pay off at each life expectancy?
Considering Client Values – Connecting People and Solutions
Based on your conversations, consider how
clients’ hopes and expectations match
their planning results. How do they
envision success? From your discussions,
what are their most important financial
goals and fears? Using what you know of
their habits and values, how might your
clients wish to address problems?
Look for a few immediate and long-term
options to help move your clients closer to
both their current goals and ultimate
dreams based upon their own unique
personal values and financial perspective.
Be prepared to offer several possibilities.
5/3/2012
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Do planning results achieve client goals?
Is the initial plan too rich or too poor?
What changes might meet client values?
Could clients save less, or save more?
Might they retire earlier or later?
Spend more or less in retirement?
Reduce or increase life insurance?
How do your clients define success?
What options should you illustrate?
How might you frame opportunities?
How will you present potential risks?
How can you show potential tradeoffs?
How could you promote discussion?
What options appeal to your client?
Copyright 2012 Money Tree Software Ltd.
Page 4
Identify & Illustrate Concerns - Then Show Potential Options
After reviewing a plan, and finding issues
and opportunities, use your planning
software to make a few illustrations to
help show clients what you see, so they
can envision planning issues and options.
Try changing one assumption at time and
showing how each change impacts the
results.
Change monthly savings,
retirement age, or retirement spending,
print a page or two, and a graph showing
long term effects of individual changes.
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Use modifications to show solutions.
Change one option at a time.
Print one or two pages for each change.
Include a graph to show the concept.
Develop several potential options.
Identify current changes.
Identify future changes.
Identify a combination of changes.
Be ready to ask if they have other ideas.
Leave open what options are practical.
Highlight Three Key Features for the Client Meeting
When presenting and discussing a client’s
plan, be prepared to highlight the three
issues you want your client to remember.
Many people lose focus when they see
pages and pages of numbers and graphs.
Considering the client and their situation,
what are the most important things you
can show them in their plan? It can help if
you use a yellow highlighter to identify
those items you find are most important.
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Create a set of meeting documents.
Make note of three issues to highlight.
Choose items that promote discussion.
What actions or patterns are critical?
What is most important to the client?
What is important to their success?
What is particularly good?
What might present problems?
Where are the client’s potential risks?
Where are the potential opportunities?
Highlight Three Key Actions for the Client Meeting
Once you have reviewed the plan, and
taken time to consider the client’s overall
situation, consider what three actions you
might suggest. Again, being prepared
ahead of time with ideas to consider can
promote a more active discussion. Actions
might be large or small, specific or vague;
but be ready to talk actions and results.
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Make note of three actions to highlight.
Identify current and/or future changes.
Look for actions that are practical.
Find actions that make sense to you.
Find actions that match client’s values.
Find actions to promote discussions.
Listen to client reaction and questions.
Meeting Preparation and Organization
Effective client meetings are planned and
organized to comfortably introduce clients
to the concepts, issues, and solutions that
need to be explored and discussed. Write
out details of the three features and three
actions you want to cover. Writing down
focus items for each of the meeting steps
allows you develop a roadmap to help
direct a complete client conversation.
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Review your notes and working papers.
Write down your meeting plan.
List meeting steps and major issues.
List value questions you want to ask.
Make note of solutions to discuss.
Print an extra plan for your notes.
Preparation helps you be professional.
Organization gives you confidence.
Starting the Client Meeting – Verifying Input and Assumptions
After greetings and pleasantries are out of
the way you might start by saying, “Let’s
go over the information we’re using to
make sure it’s all correct and complete.”
Reviewing client’s basic financial facts and
discussing planning assumptions can
make you both more comfortable, and help
find potential errors. Bringing clients into
the discussion allows them to be more
active partners in the planning process.
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Reviews improve confidence levels.
Check inputs for reasonableness.
Is that number per month, or per year?
Are there any assets we’ve left out?
Are there any other liabilities?
Are there any other major expenses?
Discuss rate of return expectations.
Explain the inflation assumption.
Point out their unique details.
Client involvement can be satisfying.
Explain the Planning Process & Math
Take a minute to talk about planning
concepts, and explain what you expect
from the meeting. Share with your client
the steps you went through as you used
their information to make an illustration
of where they are, their problems, and
their opportunities. Show them that the
math is mostly just simple addition,
subtraction, growth rates, and tax rates.
5/3/2012
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Share what you do, and why you do it.
Talk about the planning steps.
Ask if your client has questions.
Simplify math concepts you describe.
Let clients tell you if they want details.
Help clients see the flow of the plan.
Income, saving, growth & withdrawal.
Do these plan concepts make sense?
Are you ready to find planning options?
Copyright 2012 Money Tree Software Ltd.
Page 6
Reviewing the Overall Plan
Walking clients through a financial
planning illustration for the very first
time requires patience and sensitivity.
Keep reminding yourself that while you
are completely familiar with the concepts
and how they interact, your client may
become overwhelmed. Use all your best
communication skills to introduce and
explain each section, and point out how all
the planning areas impact one another.
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Review assets, liabilities, & net worth.
Discuss investments and allocation.
Talk about earnings, taxes and benefits.
Consider budget and expected spending.
Point out future needs like college, trips.
View savings and planned contributions.
Bring up future incomes or asset sales.
Show how everything works together.
Go over the plan to address questions.
Point Out Important Features and Issues
After you have delivered the plan
overview, it is time to move into more
detail. Bring the big picture into focus by
highlighting the three areas of the
illustration that need the most attention.
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Be prepared with three key features.
Point out why they are important.
Discuss what they mean to your client.
If there are shortfalls, point out options.
Where there are risks, point out safety.
Discussing Client Values – Framing the Issues and Actions
When you have introduced the main
planning issues that need to be
considered, it is time to move the
conversation to client values and what is
most important from their perspective.
Each client has his or her own financial
personality and values. Any solution
needs to work within a client’s framework.
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Watch for reactions, listen for input.
What are your hopes, wishes, dreams?
What do you fear most about money?
Don’t assume answers; ask questions.
Help frame the difficult questions.
Save more, retire early, or have more?
What options leave them cold?
What options are most appealing?
Finding and Reviewing Three Actions
You’ve had the opportunity to review the
planning issues and discuss the clients’
wants, needs, and some of their values.
How can they move toward their goals
successfully? What three actions do they
need to take? Is there a combination that
works and is in their comfort zone?
5/3/2012
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Be prepared with three key actions
Point out the action items and effects
Discuss the effort and benefits of actions
Are the actions standalone actions?
Do they overlap to support each other?
Can different combinations work out?
What combination makes sense?
Copyright 2012 Money Tree Software Ltd.
Page 7
Getting Client Buy-In
Even when clients see, understand, and
agree with a set of new financial actions, it
still takes additional discussion to really
get their full buy-in. You can help clients
develop a greater level of confidence and
understanding in their new plan that will
help motivate them to work towards, and
meet, their new goals.
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Confirm understanding of new goals.
Confirm agreement with new goals.
Confirm specifics of new goals.
Do the new goals meet their needs?
Do the new goals match their values?
Do they have confidence in the goals?
Do they have any other questions?
Arrange for Implementation and Schedule a Plan Review
Making sure implementation takes place
is really about getting clients to make the
first steps along the planning road. In
many cases, include making sure they
change retirement plan contributions. But
even that can slip through the cracks
without a checklist and a schedule.
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Make clients a checklist and schedule.
Identify their current tasks.
Help them make the first steps.
Do they have any questions?
What paperwork is needed?
When are you going to check on steps?
When is the next planning meeting?
Conclusion
Good planning is based upon the client and advisor developing a level of trust and a certain
degree of communication. For advisors to get the most out of meetings, they need to be
prepared, confident, but sensitive to client values and input. For clients to feel most satisfied
with the planning process, they must be heard, and feel they are the central part of the plan.
Remember, the planning process, is about discovering and really understanding clients’
unique financial reality, how they individually interact with that reality, and how you and
they can work together to improve that reality. Meetings may not go as planned, but each
one is an opportunity for better communication.
Recapping the Planning Engagement Steps
Planning Process Steps:
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Signed Planning Agreement
Data Gathering and Review
Analyzing Initial Results
Problems & Opportunities
Identifying Client Values
Modifications & Scenarios
Highlight 3 Features & Actions
Planning Client Meeting
5/3/2012
Client Meeting Steps:
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Verifying Assumptions
Explaining Process & Math
Reviewing the Plan
Point Out Important Features
Discussing Client Values
Reviewing Three Actions
Getting Client Buy-In
Planning Implementation
Copyright 2012 Money Tree Software Ltd.
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