A comprehensive financial plan can ease the client’s mind and decrease anxiety around their finances in both the short and long term. Studies show that people feel more secure when they have a documented holistic financial plan like The Bucket Plan® to rely on.

The solution to any individual’s economic puzzle is holistic financial planning. The wealth professional can develop a one-of-a-kind proposal to maximize their customer’s wealth, health, and happiness while minimizing any potential tax pitfalls and managing gaps in the market.

What Makes a Comprehensive Financial Plan?

A comprehensive financial plan takes an in-depth examination of the client’s current financial situation. The wealth professional develops a strategy that will allow the client to live the life they want based on their individual goals and abilities. It plans for and accommodates events that occur in the client’s life.

Whether you follow cash-flow based financial planning or another method, your goal is to create a holistic financial plan that sets the client up for success now and in the future.

Cash-flow based financial planning takes a client’s current financial position and uses predictions and forecasting to determine their cash flow plans for the present and future. Cash-flow based financial planning gives you more freedom to explore holistic financial planning solutions you might otherwise not consider.

A Comprehensive Financial Plan Includes these Elements

The Bucket Plan Process is different from other financial advisor strategies because it’s based on internal and external factors—including changes in the market, job loss, birth of a child, death of a spouse, change in marital status, etc. It considers how a customer’s investment goals will continue to change and works to ensure the best outcome at each phase of the client’s life: Now, Soon, and Later.

The Now Bucket is for liquid cash. This is where sufficient funds are set aside for a year’s worth of income, an emergency fund, and sufficient money for expected expenses.

The Soon Bucket is the more conservative capital that’s designed for the first ten or so years of retirement, plus an inflation hedge. It needs to be much less volatile but invested to outpace inflation without subjecting it to the fluctuations in the stock market.

The Later Bucket is the client’s long-term growth designated funds.

What is included in this plan?

• Assets
• Cash Flow Analysis
• College Planning
• Debt Evaluation
• End-of-Life Preparation
• Expenses
• Family Estate Organizer
• Income
• Medicare
• Retirement Plan
• Risk Assessment
• Social Security
• Tax Planning
• Goals
  • Now
  • Soon
  • Later
• Insurance
  • Auto
  • Disability
  • Health
  • Home
  • Life
  • Long-term Care
• Investments
  • Bonds
  • Fixed Indexed Annuities
  • Mutual Funds
  • Real Estate
  • Stocks

A Comprehensive Financial Plan is Easy to Adjust

For the client, a good comprehensive financial plan should be as easy as going in for an annual physical. The patient (client) meets with their doctor (financial advisor) for a checkup where they discuss any new issues that have come up recently.

A doctor might make adjustments to the patient’s prescription dosage, suggests new products, or run additional tests. Likewise, the financial advisor will alter the financial plan to meet the new needs of the client, suggest new products, or run market simulations to optimize success.

At C2P Enterprises, we follow The Bucket Plan methodology for our comprehensive financial plans.

The Bucket Plan® Best Interest Process is an asset allocation system wealth professionals use to develop holistic cash-flow based financial plans that their clients will understand. It has been defined, refined, and tested by our model offices. It includes a set of easily replicated, proven processes for your business, no matter the size or scale.

After completing The Bucket Plan live training, you will transform your business with simplified financial planning and an increased closing ratio. Download our FREE Bucket Plan eBook, OR schedule a 20-minute call to learn more!

Originally published on C2P Enterprises.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.