What Is a Financial Plan?
A financial plan is a document containing a person’s current financial situation and long-term monetary goals, as well as strategies to achieve those goals.
A financial plan begins with a thorough evaluation of the person’s current financial state and future expectations and may be created independently or with the help of a certified financial planner.
Key Takeaways
- A financial plan documents an individual’s long-term financial goals and creates a strategy for achieving them.
- The plan should be comprehensive but also highly individualized to reflect the individual’s personal and family situations, risk tolerance, and future expectations.
- The plan starts with a calculation of the person’s current net worth and cash flow and ends with a strategy.
Understanding the Financial Plan
Whether you’re going it alone or with a financial planner, the first step in creating a financial plan is gathering a lot of bits of paper—or, more likely these days, cutting and pasting numbers from various web-based accounts into a document or spreadsheet.
You may complete the following steps as an individual or a couple:
Calculating net worth
To figure out your current net worth, list all of the following:
- Your assets: These may include a home and a car, some cash in the bank, money invested in a 401(k) plan, and anything else of value that you own.
- Your liabilities: These may include credit card debt, student debt, an outstanding mortgage, and a car loan. In some cases, you may have access to a grace period or moratorium.
The formula for your current net worth is your total assets minus your total liabilities.
Determining cash flow
You can’t create a financial plan without knowing where your money is going—and when. Documenting transactions—the flow of cash in and out—will help you determine how much you need every month for necessities, how much might be left for saving and investing, and even where you can cut back a little—or a lot.
One way to get this done is to skim through your checking account and credit card statements. Collectively, they should provide a fairly complete history of your spending.
If your expenses vary a lot seasonally, then it’s best to go through an entire year—counting up all the expenditures in each category and then dividing by 12 to get an average monthly estimate of your spending. This way, you won’t underestimate or overestimate what you spend on utilities, nor will you forget to account for holiday gifts or a vacation.
Don’t overlook cash withdrawals that may be used on sundries from shampoo to sodas.
Document how much you’ve paid over a year in basic housing expenses like rent or mortgage payments, utilities, credit card interest, and even home furnishings. Add categories for food, clothing, transportation, medical insurance, and non-covered medical expenses, then document separately your real spending on entertainment, dining out, and vacation travel.
As you look over your own financial records, your personal spending categories will stand out. You may have an expensive hobby or a pampered pet. Document the costs.
Once you add up all these numbers for a year and then divide them by 12, you’ll know exactly what your cash flow has been.
Considering your priorities
The core of a financial plan is a person’s clearly defined goals. These may include funding a college education for the children, buying a larger home, starting a business, retiring on time, or leaving a legacy.
No one can tell you how to prioritize these goals. However, a professional financial planner may be able to help you choose a detailed savings plan and specific investments that will help you tick them off, one by one.
The main elements of a financial plan include a retirement strategy, a risk management plan, a long-term investment plan, a tax reduction strategy, and an estate plan.
Special Considerations of a Financial Plan
Financial plans don’t have a set template. A licensed financial planner will be able to create one that fits you and your expectations. Once complete, it may prompt you to make changes in the short term that will help ensure a smooth transition through life’s financial phases.
The following elements should be addressed and revised as necessary:
- Retirement strategy: No matter what your priorities are, the plan should include a strategy for accumulating the retirement income that you need.
- Comprehensive risk management plan: This includes a review of life and disability insurance, personal liability coverage, property and casualty coverage, and catastrophic coverage.
- Long-term investment plan: A customized plan based on specific investment objectives and a personal risk tolerance profile.
- Tax reduction strategy: A strategy for minimizing taxes on personal income to the extent allowed by the tax code.
- Estate plan: Arrangements for the benefit and protection of your heirs.
What is the Purpose of a Financial Plan?
A financial plan is designed to help you make the best use of your money and achieve long-term financial goals, whether they are sending your children to college, buying a bigger home, leaving a legacy, or enjoying a comfortable retirement.
How Do I Write a Financial Plan?
You can either write a financial plan yourself or enlist the help of a professional financial planner. The first step is to calculate your net worth and identify your spending habits.
Once this has been documented, you need to consider longer-term objectives and come up with ways to achieve them.
What Are the Key Components of a Financial Plan?
Financial plans don’t have a set format, although the good ones do tend to focus more or less on the same things. After calculating your net worth and spending habits, you’ll explore your financial goals and figure out ways to make them achievable.
Usually, this involves some form of budgeting and creating a means to put money away each month. To ensure that you live comfortably for the rest of your life, it’s generally advisable to devise a retirement, risk management, and long-term investment strategy and keep tax expenses to a minimum.