Onboarding Process for Financial Planning Clients
Opening Your Accounts
We’ll walk you through all of the paperwork to open your accounts and initiate any transfers needed.
The COLLAB Financial Planning Process™
Continuing the Conversation
Initial Onboarding Steps
A Quick Call to Kick Things Off
The Organization Meeting
During this meeting, we’ll cover the steps to open your accounts and initiate any transfers or rollovers. Once all of the paperwork is complete (which is a pretty easy process), we’ll continue to follow up to ensure all of your accounts get opened. After this, we'll keep you updated when they are funded and then place trades according to your Investment Policy Statement.
Communicate
Organize
Listen
Learn
Adapt & Adjust
Build
The COLLAB Financial Planning Process™
If you've been through a financial planning process before and you completely dread the thought of having to look at some 100+ page plan (that includes me), I can assure you that our financial planning process is not that. The COLLAB Financial Planning Process™ is our proprietary and trademarked planning process that truly looks at the what, why, when, where and how of your personal financial life.
Here's a bird's eye view:
- We explore your relationship with money and how it affects your values and goals
- We’ll help clarify your vision for the future, balance work & life (both now and in retirement), create financial comfort, help & protect your family and look at your legacy
- We’ll help prioritize what’s most important in your life right now and craft a plan around it
- The actual plan we create isn’t overwhelming or complicated but rather simple, straightforward and perfectly in line with your most important goals
- Finally, we’ll continue to update, adjust and adapt the plan ongoing as goals are accomplished and new goals come up
- Bonus: As part of the COLLAB Financial Planning process, you will have access to our certified coach where she will help you plan, in even more detail, your transition into retirement to ensure it’s completely pleasurable and full of purpose. You will have three coaching sessions at no cost to you.
The COLLAB Financial Planning Process™ Meetings
The COLLAB Financial Planning Process™ takes place over four meetings.
It's completely up to you whether you want to have the meetings in person or virtually. We've found the process is equally valuable either way. Just choose what's most convenient for you.
Once we’ve completed the COLLAB Financial Planning Process™, we’ll be your “financial copilot,” complete annual check ins, and assist you with changes and opportunities as they arise.
We’re the financial experts, but you are the expert in your own life. That’s where the collaboration really gets powerful.
Think of us as the guide as you define what real meaning and purpose means for your retirement. You’re the hero of the story, but we make sure you have the tools to succeed.
If you’re James Bond, we’re Q giving you the latest research and technology to be successful. We work together to achieve your best retirement.
We’ll guide you through six questions to uncover your money, and your life. These questions require some reflection and thought on your part, so we give you plenty of time to think through those ahead of time.
In this meeting, we'll:
- Clarify your vision for the future
- Calibrate your work & life (now and in retirement)
- Create financial comfort for you and your family
- Protect you and your family
- Determine your legacy
The primary goal of this meeting is to gain clarity on what's truly important in your life beyond just the financial areas. We’ll help you visualize your life through our 360 LifeMap.
The 360 LifeMap is a visual aid that captures your values, concerns, and risks. Once these are identified, the LifeMap allows us to move from emotional factors and considerations to financial ones. From there, we’ll prioritize what’s most important in your life right now and craft your financial plan around it.
Here we'll present and discuss your draft financial plan. This is where education and plan development come in.
We’ll explain where you’re at today as a starting point for the plans we uncovered in the first two meetings. We explain your options and tradeoffs of various decisions. Then we agree on a way forward, knowing that the decisions we’re making now are never permanent.
The plan is fluid and everchanging just as life is. Building the plan is important, but adjusting the plan with change is just as important - if not more important.
Flexibility is a key principle in your COLLAB Financial Plan. We craft a plan that adapts to change and keeps you in the driver’s seat through all complex transitions.
Seem overwhelming? Don’t worry. We keep your financial plan simple with only 2-3 pages. It’s laid out in a way that makes sense and allows us to focus on what's most important to you right now.
In this meeting, we’ll review the whole process and begin implementing the solutions we decided on.
The COLLAB Financial Planning Process™ is, well, a process. It happens over time – not just a few days. We’re going to take baby steps to make incremental progress together.
We do the bulk of the heavy lifting for you to get your financial house in order. Keeping it orderly takes time and expertise. We insist on being accountable and organized. We keep an ongoing list of action items over time and move the most important ones to the top of your priority list so you don’t miss anything.
Again, we don’t want to overwhelm you. We take things one project at a time to ensure we’re partnering to make good decisions for the present and future.
After implementation, we’ll continue meeting 1-2 times per year. We expect you to keep us updated on any life changes relevant to your plan, and we’ll do the same.
We also realize that planning is an ongoing process with surprises and changes along the way. For instance, if you’d initially thought downsizing in retirement was what you wanted, but later change your mind. We can make adjustments and show you the impact of those decisions on other parts of your plan.
Our annual reviews ensure we are on the same page when it comes to matters that affect you and your family. They’re also a great way to confirm progress and accountability within your COLLAB Financial Plan.
Are You Ready to Get Started?
Does it sound like the COLLAB Financial Planning process and NextGen Wealth are a fit for you? Schedule your free consultation to get started!
Content written by Clint Haynes, CFP® | Certified Financial Planner®
