How We Work – The Financial Planning Process

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At Progressive Financial Planning in Christchurch we help you define your financial objectives, advise you how to reach them and assist you to implement your decisions.  We follow a simple five step process:

Step 1:  DISCOVERY – The First Appointment is FREE and totally without obligation!

Tell us about your current financial situation and your dreams and aspirations for the future.  We can suggest ways to turn your financial mountains into molehills, taking the financial worry out of everyday living, and turn those dreams into reality.

We will offer you our full disclosure statement so you fully understand how we work as a financial advisory company and meet our legal obligations to you. If we are privileged to be appointed as your financial adviser, we will draw up a formal Letter of Engagement outlining the terms on which we will work with you.

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Step 2:  DOCUMENT - Gathering Data & Setting Objectives

We need to know all about your current status to help you plan your future. There are many aspects to consider--your present income, assets, budgets, business interests, estate issues, insurance requirements, debt level, taxation, employee benefits, family trusts and any other special needs. To pull together all the necessary information, we will ask you to complete some data collection forms for us.

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Step 3:  PLAN - Developing a Personalised Financial Plan

We’ll work closely with you on how to best achieve your goals, taking your preferences into account! We will evaluate and analyse your financial data and help you define specific financial objectives with a more appropriate level of risk and more efficiency, than if you had attempted to do by yourself.

We will also identify any shortcomings in your current financial situation and provide solutions you may not have thought of on your own.  If your existing situation is complex, it may take several meetings to reach an agreeable budget, or to finalise a plan in line with your investment risk profile.

Once completed, your personal financial plan will be presented to you and discussed in full, to ensure that you are comfortable with the recommendations we have made. It will be easy to read and understand with minimal jargon.

Your plan will map out a path for you to follow to ensure you stay within agreed parameters you have set yourself with our guidance.  Depending on what you want, it can be limited to one area of the following areas or cover them all.

• Financial goals
• Financial action checklist
• Cash management structure
• Investment plan
• Retirement plan
• Risk management profile
• Estate plan,
• Any other recommendations we have made for your particular situation.  

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Step 4:  IMPLEMENTATION

Once you are happy with your financial plan, it is time to put it into practice! The first few weeks and months are often a testing time as you attempt to throw off some of your “hard-wired” tendencies in favour of more efficient financial practices in your plan.  We certainly don’t want to make things too hard, so we are here to listen if you need to tweak your plan into something more workable on a daily basis.  We are here for guidance, and won’t be standing over you cracking the whip.  It will still be down to you to put the plan into practice!

To make sure your plan is up and running for you as soon as possible we can help you set up day to day banking and budgeting structures, e.g. automatic payments or bill payments. We can also assist with the more difficult structures to put into place e.g. making a will.

At this stage we will also discuss what level of ongoing service you prefer to receive from us. If you have any query or concern about your financial plan, someone is always on the end of a phone during business hours to talk to you.

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Step 5:  MAINTAIN – Regular Client Reviews

Regular planned financial reviews are essential to ensure you remain on track to achieving your lifetime goals! We are committed to ensuring that you remain happy your investments and any new financial arrangements are:

• Address any future demands on your money
• Tweak investments
• Look at how your portfolio is performing
• Talk through any worries you have with us
• Address any changes in accordance with your own or your family’s circumstances.

The frequency of formal planned review meetings will depend on the level of monitoring that you have chosen. Generally they are done every six or 12 months. 

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Contact us to arrange a free financial advice appointment

A free disclosure document is available on request.

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