No one knows exactly what the future will hold, but we all need to make decisions today that will impact the following days, weeks and years. At Ebersole Financial we work closely with you to develop a financial plan for two main goals:
1) to help you understand your current financial situation, and
2) to guide you on your chosen path forward.
The financial planning process is different for each client. Factors such as whether or not you have completed financial planning in the past, your stage of life and the the complexity of your individual situation will influence the process. Whichever situation you may be in, we work with you to identify what is important, to highlight concerns and then develop a plan to help you reach your goals.
Key elements of the financial planning process:
Working together to identify your goals and needs - Through a series of initial meetings we will get to know you (and your family) and the goals that are important to you.
Collecting and Analyzing Data - After identifying your goals, we work with you to collect the relevant financial information to develop a detailed picture of your current situation. Only at this stage, with your goals and information in hand, will we begin to formulate recommendations that will help you move toward your goals. It's not uncommon to find that some of your goals may not be realistic based upon your current situation. In such cases we work with you to prioritize what is important so that you can work toward a future of possibilities, not limitations.
Building a plan to move you forward - Armed with your input from the data collection process, we will craft a plan that is both realistic and achievable. This will become the basis of your financial planning dashboard which will be the guiding document to make the plan a reality.
Periodically revisiting your plan to make sure it is working for you - Follow-up is one of the most important elements of our process. There is a tendency to celebrate (prematurely) once the initial plan is finalized. But if the plan only sits on a shelf and collects dust, it doesn't do you any good. We check in with you on a mutually agreed schedule for the first year to ensure we are taking steps to move the plan forward. Most clients decide to continue on as long term clients as they understand the value of having a guide help them stay on their chosen path.