101 Ways We Can Add Value to Your Financial Life December 8, 2022 May Jiang Post in Financial Planning Traditionally, when people think about financial planning, they refer to investment planning. Today, Certified Financial Planners are providing value in many ways to help people stay financially healthy, much like a family doctor for physical health. Below are some of the ways we as CFPs are helping people: Cash Flow Management 1. Alignment of Spending with Values and Goals 2. Allocating and Bucketing Cash by Goal 3. Analysis of Changing Jobs/Salary 4. Analysis of Ways to Provide Financial Support for Adult Children or Aging Parents 5. Car Buy Vs. Lease Analysis 6. Divorce Cash Flow Analysis 7. Emergency Fund Planning 8. Expense Analysis to Find Forgotten/Unneeded Expenses 9. Home Buy Vs. Rent Analysis 10. Optimize Returns on Cash Holdings 11. Planning for a Sabbatical 12. Planning for an International Move 13. Review Personal Credit Cards and Rewards 14. Setting Cash Balance Targets 15. Vacation Home Planning Debt Management 16. Creating a Total Debt Payoff Plan 17. Debt Payment Allocation 18. Federal Student Loan Debt Analysis and Planning/Consolidation, Using IDR/PSLF 19. HELOC Analysis 20. Home Mortgage Refinance Analysis 21. Intra-Family Loan Planning 22. Mortgage Comparison/Analysis When Buying a Home 23. Refinancing Credit Card Debt 24. Refinancing Student Loan Debt 25. Reverse Mortgage Analysis Education Planning 26. 529 Plan Comparison Analysis 27. Discussing College Financial Aid (Merit and Need-Based) and Strategies 28. Funding Strategy With 529, UTMA, Taxable Accounts, and/or Roth IRA 29. Support Filling Out the FAFSA Form Insurance Planning 30. Analysis of Current Permanent Insurance Policies 31. Curation of Insurance Professionals 32. Disability Insurance Analysis 33. HDHP With HSA Vs. Low-Deductible Health Insurance Analysis 34. Homeowner’s Insurance Analysis 35. Life Insurance Coverage Needs Assessment 36. Long-Term Care Insurance Analysis 37. Medicare Analysis 38. Review Auto Insurance Coverage 39. Umbrella Insurance Analysis 40. Workplace Open Enrollment Period Benefits Planning Investment Planning 41. Asset Allocation Analysis/Adjustments 42. Asset Location Analysis/Adjustments 43. Creating Investment Policy Statements 44. Employee Stock Purchase Plan Analysis 45. Handling Concentrated Stock Positions 46. How to Invest an Inheritance/Windfall 47. Moving to Lower-Cost Investments 48. Paying Off Margin Interest Balances 49. Rebalancing Execution 50. Rental Real Estate Analysis 51. Withdrawal Strategies Tax Planning 52. Adjusting Strategies for Changes in Tax Policy 53. Adjusting Tax Withholding/Allowances 54. Analyzing Options to Maximize QBI Deduction 55. Capital Gains Harvesting Analysis 56. Charitable Giving Location Planning (DAF, Appreciated Stock, etc.) 57. Curation of Tax Professionals 58. Leveraging College Tax Credits 59. Reviewing Annual Tax Return 60. Roth Conversion Analysis 61. Standard/Itemized Deduction Analysis 62. Stock Option Planning 63. Strategies for Accelerating / Deferring Business Income 64. Tax Bracket Management / 0% Gains Harvesting 65. Tax Credit Analysis / Opportunities 66. Tax Loss Harvesting Analysis Retirement Planning 67. Analysis of How Much to Contribute to Retirement Accounts Each Year 68. Analysis of Roth Vs. Traditional 401(k) Plan Account 69. Considering Backdoor and “Mega” Backdoor Roth IRAs 70. Coordinating Income with Tax-Sensitive Items (e.g., Medicare Premiums) 71. Defined Benefit Pension Claiming Analysis 72. Determine When Clients Can Retire 73. Helping Clients Avoid Financial Fraud 74. Planning for Housing Transition (CCRC, etc.) 75. Retirement Cash Flow Analysis 76. Retirement Lifestyle Goal Planning / Guidance 77. Retirement Plan Distribution 78. Review Annual Social Security Statements 79. RMD Planning/Execution 80. Safe Withdrawal Rate Analysis / Retirement Income Strategies 81. Social Security Claiming Analysis Estate Planning 82. Business Succession Planning 83. Federal Estate Tax Planning / Analysis 84. Funding of Trusts/Re-Titling of Assets 85. Gift Planning 86. Guidance on Creating/Reviewing the Advance Directive 87. Guidance on Creating/Reviewing Healthcare Proxy 88. Guidance on Creating/Reviewing Power of Attorney 89. Guidance on Creating/Reviewing Will 90. Guidance on Pre-Nuptial Agreements 91. Recommendation/Curation of Estate Attorneys 92. Review Bequest Planning 93. Review Potential Trust Options 94. State Estate Tax Planning/Analysis 95. Surviving Spouse Analysis After the Death of a Client Psychology of Financial Planning 96. Developing and Envisioning Financial/Life Goals 97. Financial Coaching for Implementation of a Plan 98. Identifying Money Scripts 99. Offering Peace of Mind by Tracking Financial Life 100. Support Overcoming Financial Biases 101 Support Overcoming the Investment Behavior Gap Source: https://www.kitces.com/blog/advisors-add-value-proposition-financial-planning-ideal-clients-target-persona-differentiation/