Holistic financial planning isn’t usually the first thing that pops into people’s minds when they think of financial planning. Instead, they often think of it as a transaction: I give you my money and let you invest it so you can make me more money. This makes sense considering that’s how the industry started! Now the industry is evolving from one whose business model was (and still is for many) to sell something or gather assets to one that is structured around the planning itself, where the investing and products come secondary. Holistic financial planning is at the forefront of this evolution and is the model we’ve adopted to serve our clients.
In this post, we’ll talk about what we mean by holistic financial planning and share the framework we use to guide the process.
What is holistic financial planning?
When we talk about holistic planning, we’re really talking about two things. First is integrating the whole person. That means looking at all the aspects of your financial life, including cash flow, investing, taxes, estate planning, insurance, and so on. Then we consider your hopes and dreams for your life: how you want to live, what your values are, and what’s next for you. We always try to plan around your life, not what is happening around you. For example, we had a client who was retiring but was worried that social security could go away. We reran the numbers and discovered that even if social security went away, they would still have enough money for their desired lifestyle. While we don’t have a crystal ball for what will happen in the market or with social security, we can figure out how it could affect you. Then we can create a tailored financial plan that ensures your money will support how you want to live your life.
The second part of holistic financial planning requires that clients put in the work, too. To truly benefit from the work, our clients need to bring their full selves to the table. To create a financial plan that protects and supports your goals, we need to know about what’s happening in your life now and your future aspirations. This plan will serve as a road map to help you live the life you want.
What it's not
Holistic financial planning is not just managing your money. In fact, we don’t accept client relationships that limit us to investing. Honestly, the way we invest your money is quite boring! We’re not picking stocks. We’re not trying to beat the market. We’re not trying to do or promise you anything fancy. We also don’t sell you products. Most importantly, we don’t tell you that you can’t do something because it will affect how much wealth you have. Instead, we create a plan for how to make it happen.
Six values that guide our approach
In holistic financial planning, we aim to integrate all the different parts of your life, making sure that they’re managed the way you want. And while our financial plans are designed to hold you accountable to your goals, they also respond to life’s ebb and flow. To accomplish this, we have six values that underpin our approach.
Partnership
In the financial planning process, we prioritize our partnerships with our clients. To us, partnership means clients are participating in the process by communicating, sharing updates, and giving feedback – versus a more passive approach where they don’t take an active interest. This helps us be effective partners when you have a hard decision to make, when you want to make a big change, or when something unexpected happens. Our hope is that, over time, you’ll see us as thought partners in planning for your life.
Possibility
We mean it when we say anything is possible. Sometimes our clients ask, “Can I actually do that?” For example, a client wants to retire early but thinks there’s no way it could happen. For us, the conversation isn’t about whether you can do it but rather how to make it possible. Big goals such as paying off your student loans, retiring early, or buying a house can seem impossible for many reasons. Our job is to build a plan that shows you how to prioritize your money and resources so your goals are realistic and achievable.
Intentionality
In our planning, we intentionally account for the uncertainties of life. For example, a client had suddenly lost their job and, at the same time, had to move. They needed a large sum of money to take care of all the surprise expenses. Because of how we set up their financial plan, they were prepared. They were able not only to move but also to take the next year to reassess what they wanted to do for work.
Education
We believe that educating our clients empowers them to make the best decisions for themselves. It also builds trust and collaboration because you know exactly what we’re doing. We also want you to have a strong understanding of the process so you can give us feedback.
Simplicity
Educating our clients goes together with making financial plans simple. People often think they should take a complex approach to their finances. That’s not surprising, with financial advisors on television and talking heads on social media discussing complicated stock market numbers and predictions that can leave us confused. From our perspective, the world is complex enough. That’s why we try to make the financial planning process – and the plan itself – simple. This way, you’ll understand the reasoning behind your plan, making it easy to implement and straightforward to follow.
Open-Heartedness
Openheartedness truly makes this process what it is. If you aren’t accepted for who you are, you can’t talk about intimate things such as money in a holistic way. Feeling comfortable in your own skin is the foundation for building our partnerships.
Holistic financial planning isn’t just about managing your money – it’s about understanding your life and helping you navigate its changes. Unlike traditional financial planning, we put you at the center of the process. Life isn’t static, and neither are your goals or challenges. That’s why your financial plan needs to grow and adapt with you. Our job is to partner with you, focusing on what truly matters in your life, so we can build a plan that evolves as you do.
Jim is a financial advisor and owner of Thinking Big Financial, Inc. Thinking Big Financial is a fee-only registered investment advisor offering financial planning and investment management services. Specializing in working with the LGBTQ Community.
Please read my legal disclaimer here.