David J. Blount, CFP®
LPL Financial Advisor
In today’s world, accessing information has never been easier, allowing us to make well-informed decisions before making a purchase. This same principle should apply to your financial plan.
At Investment & Insurance Planning Services, we believe that developing a financial plan is an even more significant investment than making a major purchase. That’s why we want to give you a glimpse of what your potential financial plan could look like.
While we customize our financial plans for each client, we’ve created a sample to show you the benefits a plan can bring to your financial life. If you choose to work with us, here's a sneak peek of what you can expect.
What Does a Financial Plan Include?
First, you may be wondering about what goes into a comprehensive plan. Financial plans often address a myriad of concerns and goals, from tax planning to retirement income strategizing. Depending on your needs, your plan may narrow in on one element or address multiple goals you’d like to pursue over time. Whatever you choose to focus on, your financial plan is designed to serve as your road map, helping you pull all the moving parts of your finances together so you can navigate the years before, during, and after your transition to retirement.
We believe a good financial plan should give you a detailed, complete view of your current financial situation, a thorough modeling of where you want to be, and the actions you need to take to reach those goals. It should address all the pieces of your financial puzzle, from stresses and fears to your values and dreams, and include risk factors, cash flow, retirement, estate planning, taxes, education, and income strategies to help bring you clarity and guidance. It is through our planning process that we help you prepare for life’s expected and unexpected circumstances.
The result is a simple yet powerful road map to guide you toward financial freedom.
A Sneak Peek at a Sample Financial Plan
We’ve developed a sample financial plan that reflects our planning process. It looks at the lifestyle income plan of a fictional couple (Jack and Jill Sample), and how we developed it, including identifying their goals, creating a balance sheet, reviewing their cash flow, and more.
Below you can see a snapshot of the personal information and summary of financial goals from a financial plan.
The next image shows a graph we create depicting your current financial goals. This is a particularly important graph because the amounts shown here are used to create your financial plan. The amounts in the graph are in after-tax, future dollars. You can see the value of a graph like this and how it influences the plan we create.
The Goal Timeline graph shown below is a handy depiction of the relationship between the money you need over time relative to the money you’re projecting to need for future wants. It allows you to predict over what time periods your expenses may be greater than others, and then we can plan for those predictions.
The following two images are a Resource Summary for our fictional couple. You can see the level of detail here is beneficial for us both to get crystal clear on your investment assets, other assets, insurance policies, your Social Security plan and benefits, what retirement income you’re planning on having or do have, and any liabilities you hold. One of the helpful aspects of a graph like this is the last column, where you can see we’ve allocated certain assets to fund certain goals. We can get very specific by assigning your dollars to particular jobs so it’s easy to see if you’re able to afford what you need—and want—in the coming years.
The Risk Assessment portion of your financial plan details what losses you would incur at the risk level you chose during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Our fictional couple, Jack and Jill, would have a higher-than-average risk tolerance compared to others in their age group.
The Plan Summary below shows you what’s possible for your retirement based on a sampling of investments we typically use in our retirement portfolios. After our thorough analysis, we break down your financial situation into total assets and total liabilities to determine your net worth.
The next image shows the Plan Summary in quantifiable numbers. It’s a nice way to get a clear look at your needs versus wants for your retirement years.
Our Process
Our process begins with a brief, complimentary introductory call to discuss your current financial planning considerations or investment concerns. We can learn your top line objectives and see if our services are a match for your needs. The next step in our process is to sit down together for a Discovery Meeting, a complimentary and no-obligation opportunity for us to learn more about your current financial situation, what you’ve accomplished so far, and your future goals. We’ll also answer any pressing questions, financial concerns, and demonstrate the benefits of our services
After our Discovery Meeting and before our next meeting, we will analyze your information and draft your financial plan in preparation for our next meeting, the Plan Presentation. This meeting is a collaborative experience where we really dig deep into your expectations, concerns, goals, investment risk, and deliver your plan results. This will be the occasion for you to determine whether or not you’d like to work with us on an ongoing basis.
After the Plan Presentation meeting is Plan Implementation. Now we will work together to align your financial assets with your financial plan. This often includes transferring investment accounts, implementing additional insurances, providing education around your 401(k), small business, real estate, providing referrals for estate planning documents and health insurance needs, and addressing additional planning considerations.
Our next phase is called Investment Management. Our strategies include carefully screened funds and securities and often multi-manager strategies composed of highly rated mutual funds. We’re working hard at this stage to address the risks that come with being wrong about investments. Our goal is to carry out your wishes as you would if you had the knowledge, tools, time, and interest to do it yourself. We’re your trusted partner on your path to retirement.
Our last phase is the ongoing Plan Monitoring. At this point and going forward, we revisit and reanalyze your plan every year or two or as needed. This is the stage when our clients feel a great sense of relief and confidence that their financial affairs are heading in the right direction. With other financial advisors, you may find that this stage is largely overlooked. Assumptions can be made that once a plan has been written and approved, the work is over. But we believe that finances, like life, are constantly in an ebb-and-flow state. Because of this belief, we continuously monitor your plan and adjust when needed.
Please Note
Keep in mind that the screenshots above are only a hypothetical plan presented to illustrate what a client’s plan may resemble should they work with us. The characters and circumstances are completely fictional and are for illustrative purposes only. Be sure to seek the advice of a qualified professional for your particular situation and not rely upon any of the information herein to make personal financial decisions.
Take a look through our full sample plan here to see how our proven process helps you pursue your goals and financial freedom. Once you’ve reviewed, give us a call and we can discuss further how we can create a tailored financial plan unique to you.
Ready to Get Started?
We at Investment & Insurance Planning Services would be honored to partner with you on your financial journey. If you’d like to discuss your current financial planning considerations or investment concerns and see if our services are a match for your needs, you can reach us at service@davidblountIIPS.com or (407) 542-3249 to schedule a complimentary call. You can also send us a message here.
About David
David is President and CEO of Investment & Insurance Planning Services, LLC (IIPS), an independent and fee-based firm that helps clients establish their financial goals and creates custom financial plans to help them pursue those goals. They specialize in working with pre-retirees, individuals in a career transition, L3 Harris engineers, and JetBlue pilots. David’s motivation comes from seeing his clients pursue their goals. He says, “It’s very rewarding to help people make successful transitions from one career to another, start a small business, or retire.”
David received his bachelor’s degree from Troy University, and prior to becoming a financial planner in 2000, he had a nine-year career in the United States Coast Guard. He obtained the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation in 2007. He has served as the guest financial expert on Orange Television’s Adult Lifestyle Magazine Show and frequently provides financial and retirement planning workshops. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Michelle, their two kids, Ryan and Alana, their dog, Jack, and visiting with friends. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoys fishing, hiking, exercise, and as a committed person of faith, he enjoys attending church and is passionate about helping people in his community. To learn more about David, connect with him on LinkedIn.
The opinions voiced in this article are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a decision.
All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.