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Oftentimes when high-net-worth individuals are first looking to hire a financial advisor, it’s for investment help. But the best wealth management goes far beyond portfolio returns.
If you want lasting financial success, building wealth in a vacuum without strategy isn’t enough. You need a comprehensive financial plan that integrates every part of your financial life into one cohesive roadmap.
A trusted wealth manager guides every piece of your financial plan, including your investments, tax strategies, and estate planning, with your long-term goals.
Here at Plancorp, we use a structured financial planning process to fully understand our clients' current financial situation, prioritize their financial objectives, and recommend strategies to protect and grow their wealth throughout their lives.
If you’re curious what that process looks like, this article will walk through the 8 essential elements every comprehensive financial plan should include.
1. A Thorough Discovery Process
The foundation of effective planning is understanding you: your values, priorities, and financial circumstances. Your financial planner should take time to fully understand:
- Your family and loved ones
- Short-term and long-term goals, both personally and professionally
- Your current cash flow, assets, and liabilities
- Existing insurance policies and estate planning documents
- Any specific concerns, such as supporting family members or selling a business
This deep dive into your current financial situation ensures your financial strategies are tailored to your life, not a one-size-fits-all template.
2. A Timeline for Your Financial Goals
Financial planning is about pursuing your goals—which means identifying not just what you want to achieve, but when you hope to get there. Timing is a key puzzle piece that your financial plan must address. Goals should be clearly articulated and prioritized.
For example, a younger person might map out:
- Near-term objectives, such as building an emergency fund or saving for a home remodel.
- Mid-term objectives, such as saving for their children’s college tuition or purchasing a second home.
- Long-term objectives, such as retirement.
People later in their careers might have different goals and timelines:
- Near-term objectives might include making catch-up contributions to maximize retirement account balances.
- Long-term objectives might include enacting charitable giving strategies and making gifts to family.
3. An Evidence-Based Investment Strategy
Much like a doctor can’t prescribe treatment without diagnosing the patient, advisors can make investment recommendations without a complete understanding of your current financial situation, objectives, and constraints.
The most important investment decision is determining the mix of assets needed to meet your goals and objectives—a process that incorporates both your ability and willingness to tolerate risk.
Ability to tolerate risk is objective and determined by your financial capacity. But your willingness is more subjective, so your advisor must ask the right questions to measure your emotional comfort with various forms of risk.
Depending on your specific situation and your personal tastes and preferences, an advisor should be able to offer a variety of strategies to meet your goals. At Plancorp, we adhere to an evidence-based investment philosophy. More on that here.
Some investors are best served with the simplest, lowest-cost portfolio available.
Others have the capacity and circumstances to tilt their portfolio towards riskier assets in hope of earning higher returns over time.
Others may want a strategy that emphasizes companies that do well on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues, so their portfolio aligns with their values.
Regardless, we partner with our clients to ensure you’re appropriately diversifying, reducing unnecessary risk exposure, and maintaining affordable fund choices that don’t put a drag on your returns.
4. Stress Testing Your Plan
Nobody can predict the future, but future economic conditions will have an impact on your ability to meet your goals. Rather than targeting one possible outcome for the goals in your plan, your advisor should stress test each one by running it through a range of different market scenarios.
The process is called a Monte Carlo simulation, which runs a thousand scenarios to generate a probability that your plan will be successful.
As you change the inputs of your financial plan, you can see how they change your likelihood of success. That’s the power of Monte Carlo Simulations: They give you a framework to translate chances into choices.
5. A Review of Insurance Coverage
Insurance is a critical part of your plan because it can help keep your family’s finances on track should something happen to you or your spouse. Your advisor should analyze any current policies you have in place, including:
- Life insurance
- Disability insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Umbrella liability coverage
This ensures your loved ones and your financial future are protected without overpaying for unnecessary policies. You’d be surprised how an unexpected injury, illness, or even death can derail the finances of a family for years if not properly planned for.
6. Estate Planning Support
A strong estate plan safeguards your legacy and ensures your assets transfer according to your wishes. A financial advisor should:
- Review your wills, trusts, and powers of attorney
- Identify gaps or outdated provisions
- Coordinate with your estate attorney to align your financial plan with your wealth transfer goals
A visual flowchart of your asset distribution can give you peace of mind that your financial strategies truly reflect your intentions.
7. Tax Planning Integration
Tax efficiency can significantly impact your net worth over time. Your advisor should incorporate tax planning strategies such as:
Working alongside your CPA, your advisor ensures your financial planning recommendations minimize tax drag and maximize after-tax returns.
8. Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustment
Your comprehensive financial plan isn’t a one-time document—it’s a living strategy. Your financial advisor should schedule regular reviews to:
- Monitor progress toward your financial goals
- Adjust for life events and economic shifts
- Rebalance your investment portfolio
- Update insurance policies and estate planning documents
This proactive approach ensures your financial well-being stays on track, no matter how your financial circumstances evolve.
The Bottom Line
A complete financial plan is more than a checklist—it’s a roadmap for your financial success that adapts as your life changes. By working with an experienced financial professional, you can make confident, informed decisions that protect your wealth, support your goals, and secure your financial future.
Ready to take the next step?
Schedule a strategy session with one of our fiduciary advisors to see how a tailored financial planning process can help you achieve lasting financial success.
