What you believe determines where you are going. Are your beliefs about money helping or limiting you financially? For example, if you don’t think you can retire early, you are probably making choices right now that support that belief. As you answer the questions in our Money Attitude/Belief Questionnaire, you’ll uncover some beliefs you’re probably familiar with and some that may take you by surprise. With the clarity you gain from this activity, you’ll be asking, “How can I now shift my less-than-desirable money beliefs?” and we’ll be there with a special set of tools to help you begin that evolution.

While you’re turning around any limiting beliefs step by step, you can also begin defining your financial goals and dreams. Here we offer a tool to help you articulate what it is you truly want for yourself and how you want your life to look. Your life vision takes form as you answer a series of questions using our Financial Life Vision Questionnaire. If you knew you could actually attain it, what would you really want? Our life vision tool helps you clarify what is most important to you. FLP Advisors have developed additional support tools to help you capture the bottom line of your goals as you move through these activities.

At this stage of the process, we invite you to take a practical and objective look at how your income is being spent, by completing the Investment Data Checklist AND Cash Flow Calculator and tool. Gathering this information gives you a picture of your current financial reality, an essential step if adjustments need to be made. And who knows, you might just be pleasantly surprised at the results! The tools we’ve crafted to support you with this activity help you refocus your attention and intention regarding the financial aspects of your life.

With Stages One, Two, and Three complete, you’ve gathered the necessary information to integrate both your empowering and limiting beliefs, your values and life goals, and your real assets into a roadmap to get you where you want to go. From here, you’ll collaborate with your FLP advisor as they prepare the documents for Stages Four, Five, and Six, review these with you, and provide ongoing guidance along the road to your goals.

At this stage, your FLP advisor creates a Financial Goal Plan that takes every aspect of your life into account along with an assessment of your risk tolerance. This financial plan takes each of your main life goals (identified through Stage Two) and determines how close you will come to achieving these goals based on your current financial reality (detailed in Stage Three). We also make suggestions about how you can improve the probability of achieving your goals financially. This is the bridge you’ve been looking for to help you get across the sometimes-challenging border from dreams to reality!

Now comes the actual dollars part of our process using our Investment Strategy Report. Based on the complete picture developed in your Financial Goal Plan (see Stage Four above), a recommended investment portfolio as well as an asset management strategy are designed for you. This document presents the proposed allocation for your investment assets including percentages spread across stocks, funds, bonds, cash and other financial instruments. As you review and finalize this strategy with your FLP advisor, our goal is for you to be clear and comfortable about each of the selected investments. This presentation of your financial choices and their anticipated growth patterns is the underpinning for reaching your financial life goals.

Now all of the Stages come together in the Financial Life Empowerment Plan designed for you by your FLP advisor. This thorough and do-able, step-by-step action plan integrates the finalized Financial Goal Plan (mapped out in Stage Four) with the career, social, charitable and personal growth activities you commit to undertake. Reading your Plan, you’ll see the map to your dreams unfolding. Your FLP advisor is there to help to make those dreams a reality.

With Stages Four, Five, and Six complete, you have taken more steps toward making your financial goals a reality than most people take in a life time. Give yourself some well-deserved congratulations! From here, you and your FLP advisor will customize an ongoing support and review plan.