
6 STEPS TO IMPLEMENT OUR UNIQUE FINANCIAL PLANNING APPROACH
Our Planning Process was developed and refined through years of experience. An important aspect of our planning process is that it adheres to the Certified Financial Planner™ practice standards. It has resulted in long-term clients, generational planning, and helping our clients retire when they want to – or get to a “work-optional” lifestyle.
1
Step One: Discovery
Schedule an introductory call to discuss and explore your financial needs
We work with a select clientele who are driven to reach their goals, who value advice and are fun to work with. In our first visit, we make a mutual evaluation, to determine if and how our services will best fit your needs and objectives. During our initial consultation, there was no advice given. Its purpose is mainly to ensure your financial needs can be solved by what we do best.
In this meeting or the next, we’ll quote a fee, based on the anticipated time and complexity of your financial situation. We believe that knowing the total cost upfront allows us both the freedom to work through the planning process. It also allows clients to contact and meet with us without the pressure of unanticipated fees.
2
Step Two: Fit Call
Discuss whether there is a good fit and whether we feel comfortable moving forward
We only take on a handful of clients each year so it is important to us that we both see a long-term relationship forming.
At the same time, you carefully consider if we can offer you the services and advice you are looking for. During the “fit call”, we reconnect and decide if there is a fit to move forward.
3
Step Three: Fact Finding
Begin gathering info using a variety of tools and software
Our goal during this crucial fact-finding period is to step into your financial shoes so we can begin to understand your thought processes. During the second meeting, we discuss your goals, views, attitudes, concerns, and current financial situation. This becomes the foundation of your financial model. We believe that without a strong foundation, any house is bound to crumble. The same applies to your financial future.
An important aspect of discovery is understanding your financial behaviors. This insight will help you control innate behavioral mechanisms and biases which play a large role in the likelihood of reaching your goals. Also in this meeting, we review the engagement proposal, which outlines the work we will do together over the next 12-months and beyond.
4
Step Four: Development
Create your customized financial plan based upon your needs
Working with some of the brightest minds in the financial planning industry, we’ll do an exhaustive search to find the solutions that make the most sense for you. In this step, we provide a detailed analysis of your situation as well as the options you have to reach your financial goals in addition to a specific recommendation which option we believe best suits you and your financial goals.
Click here for insight into how this step would be different for High Earning Individuals.
Click here for insight into how this step would be different for Retirees.
5
Step Five: Implementation
After running through a variety of scenarios we implement your personalized plan
At this stage, the team aspect of the planning process is truly embraced as we’ll start collaborating with your tax professional to ensure that the filing and management of your tax burden are managed optimally and in synchrony.
As Fee-Only CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™, we will always act in your best interest – never led by commissions. Whether through evaluating various investment options and products, coordinating tax reduction and estate planning strategies, or evaluating specific financial products, we help ensure they are right for each of your plan strategies.
6
Step Six: Monitoring
Routinely review our efforts and make adjustments as your life unfolds
Because the financial planning process changes all the time due to changes in regulation, products, your goals, your health and your family, your financial plan will have to change and evolve with it. We won’t make changes every year; only when it matters.
If you’re a high earning individual, you should expect the following unique focuses:
- A specific focus on your compensation. There’s a lot of room for negotiation in the salaries, benefits and work-life balance for tech employees because it’s a competitive industry. We’ll ensure you’re paid what you’re worth and getting the 10%+ raises you deserve, when you deserve them.
- Your Employer Equity Compensation. We’ll help you to ensure how to think about your opportunity to own employer equity, when to exercise and when to sell.
- Your Tax Plan. We’ll help you to ensure you understand what tax planning opportunities are available and why you should use them or not. If you’re compensated highly, this is important because so many people miss out on opportunities to lower their tax bills today or down the road. Don’t be like them.
- Your investments. We believe that it’s important to ensure that your investments are managed with reaching your goals as your top priority and tax efficiency as the runner up. If you’re not managing your investments purely in hopes of affording your goals and remaining tax-efficient and you’re high earning, you’re probably throwing money away on taxes unnecessarily.
- A focus on your personal liability and protecting your assets. It’s a well-known fact that high income individuals are at a higher risk of identity theft, car crashes and homeowners insurance claims. A well-structured financial plan for high earning individuals incorporates current law surrounding how to best protect your assets from lawsuits into your strategy for affording your future.
If you’re a tech employee, you should expect the following unique focuses:
- A specific focus on your compensation. There’s a lot of room for negotiation in the salaries, benefits and work-life balance for tech employees because it’s a competitive industry. We’ll ensure you’re paid what you’re worth and getting the 10%+ raises you deserve, when you deserve them.
- Your Employer Equity Compensation. We’ll help you to ensure how to think about your opportunity to own employer equity, when to exercise and when to sell.
- Your Tax Plan. We’ll help you to ensure you understand what tax planning opportunities are available and why you should use them or not. If you’re compensated highly, this is important because so many people miss out on opportunities to lower their tax bills today or down the road. Don’t be like them.
- Your investments. We believe that it’s important to ensure that your investments are managed with reaching your goals as your top priority and tax efficiency as the runner up. If you’re not managing your investments purely in hopes of affording your goals and remaining tax-efficient and you’re high earning, you’re probably throwing money away on taxes unnecessarily.
If you’re retired or retiring within the next 5-7 years, you should expect the following unique focuses:
- A Specific Focus On Risk Management. There’s a lot of room for error in retirement planning and the hard part is, one mistake and it could cost you more than just a few dollars. If could mean less fun and more struggle in the years you’d rather be relaxing. For this reason, we believe that a strong risk management plan is vital to any retirement plan. This would include risk resulting from healthcare costs, high inflation, a poorly performing stock market, liability and disasters.
- An Emphasis on Tax Planning. Wasting money in any retirement plan isn’t wise. We believe that all retirement plans require tax plans otherwise they’re just a run of the mill financial plan; not unique at all. For this reason, we pair every client up with their own tax professional at no cost to them to ensure their tax lives are managed appropriately. This would include strategies to lower your RMD’s, withdrawal optimization and ensure that as you sell major assets or stock positions, you’re approaching it in a wise way.
- Social Security and Medicare Optimization. – It’s important to ensure your social security filing strategy makes the most sense given your circumstances, goals and risks as part of your financial plan. If your financial planner just says file at 70 without showing you the potential benefit of filing early (smaller withdrawals, early on), it could be a misstep.
- Tailored, Tax-sensitive investment management – Medicare is priced progressively and if your income is too high in retirement, it could trigger extra taxes on social security. We believe that tax sensitive investing is vital to a well-managed retirement plan.
Additional Questions
How We Help With Financial Planning
Through working with Progress Wealth Management, you’ll receive access to a real-time dashboard where you’ll be able to track your investments, upload documents securely, estate plan, insurance, tax plan, retirement plan and communicate with your financial planner on each item all without having to get into a zoom call or call your planner.
Budgets – they suck and we make them suck less
Our tech partner enables us to track your budget and help you stay disciplined at every step of the way more easily. You’ll be able to view your goals, your progress towards each and communicate with your planner over the application at every step of the way.
Tax Planning and Preparation
Progress Wealth Management’s Tax Expert, Vasil Baychev is a remote tax professional who helps you to securely and simply upload your tax documents for his analysis and planning. He’ll help you to understand what documents you should retain and what you should do to ensure you’re managing your tax life optimally. At the end of every interaction, he’ll send you a short video he’ll create for you with a simple explanation of how to move forward so you won’t have to schedule an appointment or drive out to his office and sit down with him.
How we help with Investing
Progress Wealth Management believes that investing should be simple and empirical. We use passive portfolios that are tax sensitive and tax aware so you’ll feel confident that your strategy is based on a science and a process rather than a hope and a dream. You’ll have access to a mobile application where you can upload documents, review your investments and make contributions or withdrawals at your leisure.
