Results in Advance Planning

Alright, I may be crazy(ier) with this week’s article, but here goes.  I am breaking out a Crazy Dan sale.  What is on sale, you ask?  Well, what I call my Results in Advance plan!  Let me explain a bit more what exactly this is.

First, a little disclaimer – I hire a team to help with a part of my financial planning process.  It is the part I call the Results in Advance plans.  I do NOT create these plans on my own.  There are a few reasons why.  First, this team of salary-only employees does roughly 135 plans a week.  That is more than I see in a 2 to 3 year period.  The majority of the team is comprised of CFPs and they do this for somewhere around 200 advisors across the country.  So, they see a variety of situations.  The other part is since this is all they do I can get these plans done at a better price than I can do on my own.

The goals with my plans are to tackle what I see as some of the problems with the “normal” financial plan.  My Results in Advance plans are built around the following philosophies:

• Too many plans are more complex than they need to be. You should not need a PhD in personal finance to understand one.
• Plans do not need to be 100+ pages in length as quantity does not equal quality.
• A plan should never be a product sales pitch in disguise where the advisor’s goal is to get you to sell everything you currently own and buy all new stuff, which may have commissions connected to it.  Most plans I run show a few weaknesses that need to be corrected, not everything.
• A good plan should be able to summarize in one page your goals and whether you will hit them.
• Good plans should test and show whether your current strategy will be successful.
• When creating a plan it makes the most sense to test different strategies to see what improves the odds of reaching your goals. Think of it like a vision test where the doctor keeps flipping lenses and ask, “Better at 1 or 2? 3 or 4?” 
• This is heresy to most advisors, however, EVERY financial plan should be structured so anyone can go out and replicate the investment strategy on their own.  This means no exotic products.  Instead, the focus is on low-cost, tax-efficient holdings like Vanguard funds.
• A part of the process should be a detailed analysis of your current portfolio.  The advisor should explain to you what you own, how it works, and answer your questions ranging from your asset allocation to correlation to expenses.

Here is the “Crazy Dan” part.  I was visiting with my team recently and convinced them to cut me a deal.  The normal cost for these plans is $600, however, I am now offering a one-time Results in Advance plan for $300.  Also, you only pay once you are happy with the plan.  Yes, apparently I am now a used car salesman offering a ½ off deal. 

This plan is geared for someone within a few years of retirement.  It is NOT a full-blown wealth management plan that does an analysis of your insurance, estate planning, taxes, Whealthcare, bucket strategy, etc.  That falls under my Platinum Level Service for my flat fee clients.  Instead, the goal here is to show you in a more efficient and effective approach if your retirement is on track.  So, if you are looking to see your retirement results in advance, just send me an email.  And no more Crazy Dan stuff from me.