We use MoneyGuidePro
for financial planning

SUMMARY — Every firm tends to perform financial planning a little differently. We may all follow a six-step process, but the similarities end there. Financial planning is part art and part science. Some planners favor detailed multiyear, cash-flow-driven plans (we don't), while others prefer a goal-based approach (we do).

Some planners supply their clients with extensive written documents (we don't because we doubt it gets read), while others believe that their time is best spent counseling clients (we do).

MoneyGuidePro enables easy measurement of portfolios against client financial goals. As we track progress in a portfolio, we might see that a client’s portfolio is behind goal so would run “what-if” scenarios to figure out what should change to get the client on track. Most clients have several accounts. Evaluating progress on accounts in a number of places has always been the challenge.

We can tell at a glance how a portfolio is performing against a goal and can play with variables such as having the client increase savings, increase portfolio risk, downsize goals, and so on, to see how various choices would affect the client’s financial plan.

We know that some clients like to be more involved with their ‘what ifs’. MoneyGuidePro has a feature called ’Collaboration’.

Here is a RECENT EXAMPLE of online collaboration and how it works.

We had a client meeting over lunch with three busy people in three separate locations, all logged into different computers, but on the same page at the same time. We used the lunch hour for the work and no one had to travel across town and find parking and miss lunch and perhaps be late getting back to the office. Everyone’s focus was about the impact of one impending financial decision on other financial goals.

Informed clients ask better questions and conversations are more in depth. When clients are more informed and have a sense of control, they are more confident in their decisions. A client with information is more likely to act on financial advice and follow through.