The Genesis to any financial plan is that you have a certain amount of money today, at some future point; you would like to have more. To understand where you want to go, we need to ask you difficult questions. Namely:

• What do you want from your life?

• How do you envision your retirement years?

• What is the legacy that you want to leave?

These questions provide insight into your desires, allowing me to understand who you are and what is important to you. Based on these answers, a detailed financial plan is created that will set goal posts and give a blueprint on how to get there.

Many get caught up in the investment strategy and individual products that are selected. Insurance, stocks, bonds, or a combination thereof are the products that allow us to achieve our goals. Without having a defined end game, it is nearly impossible to stay focused on what we want to achieve.

While it might not be sexy to talk about at a cocktail party, the plan provides the discipline for the investment strategy allows everyone to be on the same page and lets us all sleep a little better at night.