Financial Planning Resources & Helpful Links
Financial Planning Resources & Documents
If you have discussed financial planning with us and are ready to do your homework, we have provided some documents and resources below that should help with the process.
1.) Financial Plan Fact Finder & Document List- If we have told you that the short Fact Finder will suffice for our specific discussions, please complete the following pdf file. Please note that not all sections will apply to everyone, so feel free to leave any sections that don’t apply to your financial situation blank. If any section confuses you or you aren’t sure how to complete it, please feel free to call us or just fill in a question mark (?) so we know that section DOES apply to you even if you are unsure how to complete it. This way, we can follow up with you in regards to that information. When you send this file back to us completed whether it is electronic or hard copy, please be thoughtful about the manner in which you return it to us as it will have sensitive personal identifying information in the document.
2.) Living Expenses Worksheets
- Living Expenses Worksheet For Those Who Have Children
- Living Expenses Worksheet For Those Without Children or Those Who Have Grown Children
- Living Expenses Worksheet for Divorce Planning
This worksheet helps us identify what your annual/recurring, and future/one-time expenses are to create your cash flow reports in the financial plan. If there is a category you are unsure about, please leave it blank and fill out as much as you can and we can help you complete it. We advise you to overestimate instead of underestimating as we prefer to plan from a more conservative standpoint in the future.If you do not provide your expenses to us in this format, please note that the cost of the plan may be increased.
3.) Economic Policy Institute Family Budget Calculator-This website allows you to type in your Zip Code (or City/State) and the number of adult (or children) members in your household to help you figure out the average cost of living in your area. While these numbers are by no means what you should automatically assume for your own expenses, it can be a good tool to see if there are any major differences to your own calculations and the average in your area. It may help you identify if you are missing certain expenses or if your numbers may need adjustment.
http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/
4.) Social Security (myssa.gov) Website: Use this link to create a new account or login to myssa.gov. This will allow you to access your most recent social security benefits statement and other pertinent information to your social security and Medicare questions. Please be sure to save your user name and password for this website to a secure place.