Comprehensive financial planning is a structured, systematic process for developing a financial plan.  We will help you develop a personal financial plan that identifies specific actions and their timing for accomplishing your long-term financial goals.  Your financial plan will be a blueprint for implementing a sound investment strategy, and for making successful financial decisions throughout your life.
Working with KAM to create a financial plan will help you

• define clear financial goals for achieving your life hopes and dreams
  
  
• organize and understand your own financial information and data
  
  
• understand and take control of your finances and investments
  
  
• create an integrated framework for making good financial decisions far into the future.
  
  

Implementing a financial plan will integrate all your financial matters.  To develop your personal financial plan, we use a structured process that includes these steps:

1. Understanding your current financial circumstances and your hopes and dreams for the future.
   
   
2. Exploring alternative ideas and scenarios that can lead to your desired future.
   
   
3. Defining concrete financial goals that will allow you to achieve your hopes and dreams.
   
   
4. Specifying particular actions and their timing for reaching your financial goals.
   
   
5. Implementing an investment strategy needed to build capital for achieving your goals.
   
   
6. Updating your financial plan as needed as the future unfolds.
   
   

KAM’s financial planning process creates the following specific components:

• Statement of Goals – a written statement that clarifies, quantifies, and documents your personal and financial goals.
  
  
• Personal Balance Sheet – a specification of your assets and liabilities, which we use for calculating your current net worth, and as a baseline for measuring progress toward your financial goals over time.
  
  
• Statement of Cash Flow – a written analysis of your annual income and expenses, including projections of future income and expenses, which enables us to suggest actions to align short-term money management with long-term financial goals.
  
  
• Statement of Tax Strategy – a written analysis of your estimated tax liability for the calendar year and recommendations for steps you can take to reduce it (we provide this annually for financial planning clients who engage us to manage their investment portfolio).
  
  
• Capital Needs Analysis – a projection of your future money needs for retirement or other shorter-term financial targets, such as education of children or buying a new home.  Using computer-based, quantitative scenario analysis, we explore alternative paths for achieving your financial goals.
  
  
• Proposal for Portfolio Allocation – a written analysis of your existing investments, which we use for determining optimal asset allocation of your total portfolio, based on your risk profile and future capital needs. If you engage us to manage your investment portfolio, we will also create your personal Investment Policy Statement. 
  
  
• Review of Employee Benefits – a written analysis of your employee benefits programs and recommendations for maximizing your benefit from them.
  
  
• Analysis of Deferred Compensation and Stock Options – a written statement and analysis of any deferred compensation, stock options, or restricted stock rights you may own to help you understand and optimize your choices.
  
  
• Analysis of Estate Plan – a written analysis of your estate planning documents with appropriate recommendations, based on your plans for inheritance and gifting. If you do not have an estate plan but want one, we can recommend an estate planning attorney and/or work with your attorney to create an estate plan that is fully integrated with the rest of your comprehensive financial plan.
  
  

Financial plans generally evolve as our lives unfold.  New circumstances, new opportunities, and new challenges emerge. Our goals may change. Unforeseen events may require us to take actions we hadn’t anticipated.  For clients who engage KAM to create their financial plan and to manage their investment portfolio, we offer an annual review of the financial plan.  We charge no additional fee to update the financial plan if only modest changes are required.  If major changes are required due to substantial changes in circumstances or goals, we will negotiate an appropriate additional fee.  Financial planning clients who have complex financial matters and anticipate ongoing changes annually may want to consider opting for an annual retainer fee.