Our Process

Design and Development (“D&D”) Phase,

In this initial phase, we work closely with doctor families to develop their “Initial Foundation Plan” (IFP) based on personal goals, income, lifestyle, and current financial situation. The IFP provides clients with insight into their finances and context for making appropriate decisions. D&D will help you organize your finances beyond a spreadsheet and will provide clarity and context about your money and how to prioritize what you should do with it.

Plan to commit 20 – 25 hours in D&D, which includes meetings, data gathering, and outside assignments. To help you stay on track, we provide Meeting Notes after each appointment summarizing key takeaways, Action Items, and next steps. It’s important to complete tasks and provide relevant documents timely to maximize our sessions effectiveness. This phase usually takes 6 months based on a meeting every 4 to 5 weeks. 

• Meeting 1 (1 hour): Getting Organized with eMoney (GO)

  The GO meeting is a tutorial to introduce you to eMoney, our financial planning software. You’ll learn how to upload and enter data, navigate around your personal financial dashboard, securely upload documents to the Vault, and understand your reports. Of course, we will be available for questions and assistance whenever needed.

• Meeting 2 (2 hours): Money History & Goals (MHG)

  Currency may be inanimate, but we all have a unique relationship with money, typically reflecting our upbringing and lessons learned. We spend the first half of this meeting discussing your background and “money history” to understand how your values may impact your approach to planning. The second half of the meeting is devoted to discussing your goals and expected costs so we can determine next steps and a timeline.

• Meeting 3 (2 hours): Cash Flow and Investing (CFI)

  Clarity about what you’re doing with your money is essential to reaching your goals on time. During this meeting, we will review your inflows and outflows to develop your personal working budget. The last half of the meeting is devoted to discussing Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth, which we provide to all clients, investment education and reviewing your current portfolio. We will develop an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and provide rebalancing recommendations to reflect your IPS allocation. We will review any tax impact for you to discuss with your CPA before making changes.

• Meeting 4 (2 hours): Rough Draft Review (RDR)

  The RDR is an exhaustive review of all details you have provided to date. We will also review and discuss alternative scenarios to help you decide on the appropriate “Base” plan to use for your IFP. It is not unusual to get a surprise during this meeting, as the process of planning can inspire possibilities to bubble to the surface, encouraging you to think beyond your initial goals. In those situations, we can prepare a new scenario plan and schedule a second RDR meeting.

• Meeting 5 (1 hour): Presentation of Initial Foundation Plan (IFP)

  We will review your Executive Summary, including your current goals, savings plan, and our findings, along with recommendations for next steps. Your Executive Summary also includes Key Performance Indicators commonly requested by physician clients, giving you realistic expectations for your future.

Monitoring and Adjustment Phase

With your IFP in place, we will serve as your co-pilot during the rest of your first year to keep you on track and on task, especially in areas that may be new to you. While we’ll be here to guide and answer questions at your request, we’ll reach out for a couple of meetings to check in and make sure you’re staying on track. Ongoing Planning clients will continue partnering with us to update their plans and expectations, as we monitor the impact of future life changes.

• Meeting 6 (90 minutes): Third quarter 90-Day Cash Flow Review & Progress Check

  Your spending habits will be the most important determinant of the success of your plan and it’s critical you have a flexible budget you are comfortable with. We’ll review and evaluate your previous quarter’s spending against the annual cash flow budget developed in Meeting 3 to decide on any needed adjustments. We’ll also review tasks from your IFP and provide guidance on implementation and answer questions you’ve had since we last met.

• Meeting 7 (1 hour): Fourth quarter check-in

  This is a general check-in to assess your progress and provide support in any area you need. We’ll discuss if you wish to continue working together or if you want to explore doing it on your own. We’ll review the next year’s goals and meeting schedule. If you decide to DIY it, we’ll go over the next, including downloading information from your Vault and answer any other questions.

Monitoring and Adjustment Phase

Your Initial Foundation Plan (IFP) is in place, but financial planning is dynamic. As life evolves, so do your goals and circumstances. We're here to monitor your progress and adjust your plan accordingly.

We estimate 1 hour for each core meeting and the next 30 minutes for any added topic items. When we’re not meeting, we are available throughout the year to answer questions and provide advice as needed either by email or additional meetings.

• Meeting 1 (90 mins): Cash Flow Review

  To ensure our projections align with your lifestyle, it’s important to compare current spending habits to the most recent version of your budget. We’ll evaluate your current accumulated savings and strategize methods to meet your goals and maintain an Emergency Fund appropriate to your needs.

  Client Action Item: At least 3 business days before your meeting, review eMoney spending transactions for the last 6 months and recategorize, if needed. Review the budget uploaded to the Cash Flow folder in your eMoney Vault to note any significant changes to bring to our attention.

• Meeting 2 (90 mins): Investment Review & Annual Rebalance

  We’ll review our investment philosophy and your Investment Policy Statement (IPS) then discuss any upcoming changes to strategies and/or holdings. We’ll review your current investment portfolios and our rebalance recommendations, along with any tax impact from Roth conversions or Taxable Account changes.

  Client Action Item: At least 3 business days before your meeting, upload the retirement account fund choices available from your current employer to your eMoney Vault – Shared Documents. We also recommend you re-read the chapter summaries of Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth and review your IPS in the Investment folder of your eMoney Vault. Note any significant changes to bring to our attention.

• Meeting 3 (90 mins): Financial Plan Update)

  During this meeting, we’ll review your progress since your last Foundation Plan. We’ll discuss any updates to your goals, timeline and estimated costs. We’ll also go over other changes to your plan and any future Scenarios you would like to see compared to your Base Plan.

  Client Action Item: Review your prior Financial Plan located in the Financial Plan folder in your eMoney Vault.