How many people would just load the family in the car with no map, no plan for how far you would drive, what stops you would make and how long it would take you to reach you destination as well as an estimate of the expenses of the trip?

Yet, we find that the most important journey -that of life and goals relating to our lifestyle choices is conducted without a plan or guidelines for achieving our goals. Financial planning is about measuring risk and finding ways to mitigate those risks that could disrupt your life or cause you serious distress. However, unless resources are unlimited, one needs to prioritize those risks and assess available resources to mitigate them.

How do you assess your progress if you do not know what your benchmarks should be?

There are seven tenets of financial planning. They are Retirement Planning, Education Planning, Risk Management, Tax Planning, Cash Flow/Debt Management, Estate Planning and Investment Management. Not every area applies to every family or individual but unless they are addressed, you will not know.

The risk of a premature death or a sudden loss of a job and income is often potentially more disastrous than the return on a portfolio yet we find that many people focus more on the portfolio and less on the entire picture. We review the big picture and address each tenet as it applies to your unique situation. We run multiple scenarios using Monte Carlo analysis to ascertain the probability of you attaining success. For instance, a serious bear market later in life is potentially more damaging than when you are young, have time on your side and the continued income stream to replenish your assets. Monte Carlo analysis helps us to assess the possibility of this happening and it's affect on your potential success.

We provide customized plans and action checklists to assist the client in putting check-points on their horizon. Meetings are set up with our advisors to focus on one or two action steps at a time. Plans are implemented over several months to a one year time frame. There are different levels of plan structured to meet any level of planning need. This service is fee only and allows the client to implement their portfolio management at their choice of venue. For the client who meets our asset management minimum, fee based advisory services are available as a separate service.