The VWP process, from first call to years down the road

No surprises, and no quarterly meeting that's secretly a sales pitch. Here's exactly how we work together from day one

No cost, no pressure to start

The first two steps are free, a low-stakes chance for both of us to get to know each other and decide we want to keep going. You'll walk away with a written, plain-English summary of where you stand and a few prioritized actions you can take on your own, whether or not we ever work together

Discovery

● FREE

Get clear on where you're headed, and where you are today

We start with your values, where you are today, and where you're headed

This first conversation runs about an hour and focuses on personal fit rather than numbers

If you're married, your spouse must be on the call. The best decisions get made by two informed partners, not one

After this meeting, I review financial statements and clarifying documents to identify the gaps in your 'today' that would prevent you from reaching your tomorrow

Observations & Recommendations

● FREE

See exactly where you stand, in plain English

A couple weeks later, we walk through your full financial snapshot together

Whether or not our relationship ever goes further, you and your spouse leave with a clear understanding of where you stand today and the highest impact, lowest effort actions you can take to move your family toward your objective

If it makes sense to work together for the long term, you'll also receive a proposal with a clear price

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Get Organized

Strengthen the foundation, and make it elegantly simple

Once you're a client, we address your most pressing concerns, make sure the base of your financial pyramid is strong, and build elegantly simple systems that scale with your life instead of breaking every time life changes

Common focus areas at this stage include streamlining redundant accounts, getting estate planning documents in place or updated, and reviewing the areas of concern you 'forgot' to mention earlier

Financial Planning Inputs

Turn your values into a Statement of Financial Purpose

This is one of my favorite meetings. We spend 90 minutes absorbed in an ideal world where everything in your life has gone not just better than expected, but amazingly!

We define what your money is actually here to do, putting numbers to your values and discussing all the things you've always worked for but never believed were possible

To clarify your family's values, we craft your Statement of Financial Purpose, which lives at the top of your financial plan and serves as your north star in times of fear or greed

What's a Statement of Financial Purpose? →

Financial Planning Outputs

The plan itself, a living document

A financial plan is simply a decision tool, and the best time to build one is before large decisions get made

Every choice your family faces has a tradeoff, and without sophisticated modeling that weighs your inputs, outputs, variability, and taxes in one place, the true tradeoffs are hard to identify

Alongside that tradeoff analysis optimized for fulfilment rather than ending dollars, outputs include investment allocation, insurance recommendations, and often career guidance

Your financial plan is about two pages, with a video walkthrough of your dashboard where you can see the tradeoffs, view every account in one place, and confirm you're on course

A 150-page version is available, although no client family has ever taken me up on it

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Execution & Follow-Up

Prioritize and execute

Busy families have long to-do lists, and not enough time

Families I work with have shorter to-do lists, and more time with their families

This meeting makes sure the highest-priority items from your financial plan get cleanly implemented

Fall & Spring Reviews

Twice a year, with purpose

You have enough meetings in your life, and there's no quarterly sit-down here that exists just to pitch you some proprietary investment or product

We meet twice a year, when the kids are in school, to stay on top of the changes in your busy lives. In the summers and winters, I expect you to be spending more time with your kids

When something comes up off-cycle, we handle it by email first, and then meet if there's a decision tree to work through

Across every meeting:

By design, both spouses are on every call and every email, and I've yet to have a spouse yawn from boredom

We keep at least two weeks between all meetings. This gives you time to reflect and complete your action items, and it gives me time to thoroughly review your materials before we sit down again

Great decisions aren't rushed