Hourly Financial Planning
Together Planning's financial planning services are designed for do-it-yourself investors. We help you identify and develop your goals, take inventory of the resources available to achieve them, and create an actionable plan to increase your chances of success.
Our comprehensive financial plans are written in plain English, making it easy for you to implement our recommendations on your own. However, Together Planning is always available to provide support and ongoing financial planning check-ups as needed.
Hourly Financial Planning Topics
Cash Flow & Retirement Counsel
Advice to equip you to efficiently reach your goals.
- Retirement timing
- Tax-efficient withdrawal strategies
- Social Security claiming strategies and pension election
- Tax planning strategies to reduce income taxes where possible
- Education funding analysis
- Home purchase decisions
- Employee benefits review
- Charitable giving strategies
Investment Analysis
We analyze your current investments and whether they are appropriate given your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.
- Review of existing investments and their costs
- Development appropriate asset allocation
- Recommendations on mutual funds or ETFs to purchase
Insurance Sufficiency
Evaluation of types and amounts of insurance needed based on your goals.
- Assessment of insurance needs
- Review of existing coverage
- Insurance recommendations
Estate Planning Design
Assist you, executors, or trustees in estate plan decisions.
- Identify estate planning goals
- Review of current estate design
- Determine if alternate design is more efficient based on your goals
Hourly Financial Planning Process
Our process is designed to be flexible and customized to the needs of each client. Below is an outline of our typical planning process, but we can discuss what makes the most sense for your situation during our Introductory Call.
1. Introductory Call. This complimentary call helps you determine if Together Planning’s hourly services are the right fit for you. To arrange this call, please complete your Confidential Personal Profile.
2. Data Organization. Should you decide to move forward with Together Planning, we will provide you with a checklist of documents needed to complete your financial plan.
3. First Meeting – Preliminary Recommendations. During this meeting, we will ask clarifying questions to mutually define financial planning assumptions tailored to your individual preferences and unique financial goals.
4. Our Analysis. We will analyze the information you provided and review various options and opportunities to achieve each planning objective. We will then create a final report, including our observations, assumptions, and specific recommendations with an action plan.
5. Second Meeting – Plan Presentation. We will review your financial plan and our recommendations. You can then implement your financial plan on your own, or Together Planning can assist you in implementing your plan at our current hourly rate.
6. Financial Checkups. Financial planning is a process, not a one-time event. You will always have the option—but no obligation—to refine your plan with ongoing updates as questions or unique circumstances arise.
Hourly Financial Planning - 3 Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much does it cost?
Most comprehensive financial plans take between 10 to 20 hours to complete, though some engagements may require as few as one or two hours. We will provide you with a free quote at the end of our complimentary introductory call.
2. Do you offer a short 2-hour review?
For clients with one or two pressing questions that don’t require deep analysis, we can arrange a 90-minute meeting to collaboratively plan in real time. These short engagements can help answer questions like:
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- How should I invest my 401(k)?
- What kind of life insurance do we need?
- How do I get started on the right footing? I just graduated and am not sure what to do.
These sessions are not appropriate for topics requiring complex analysis, such as retirement planning.
3. Do I come back periodically?
Financial planning is a process, not a one-time event. While our goal is to provide you with a financial plan written in plain English for you to implement on your own, life circumstances can change and might warrant a tune-up.
We are always available to review and update your plan as needed. Future financial planning work beyond your initial plan is billed at our current hourly rate.