Five Star award winner Trice C. Rainer, MBA, CFP®

Comprehensive Financial Planning: What It Is, Why It Matters

Just what is comprehensive financial planning? As you invest and save for retirement, you may hear or read about it – but what does that phrase really mean? Just what does comprehensive financial planning entail, and why do knowledgeable investors request this kind of approach?

While the phrase may seem ambiguous to some, it can be simply defined.

Comprehensive financial planning is about building wealth through a process, not a product. Financial products are everywhere, and simply putting money into an investment is not a gateway to getting rich, nor a solution to your financial issues.

Comprehensive financial planning is holistic. It is about more than “money.” A comprehensive financial plan is not only built around your goals, but also around your core values. What matters most to you in life? How does your wealth relate to that? What should your wealth help you accomplish? What could it accomplish for others?

Comprehensive financial planning considers the entirety of your financial life. Your assets, your liabilities, your taxes, your income, your business – these aspects of your financial life are never isolated from each other. Occasionally or frequently, they interrelate. Comprehensive financial planning recognizes this interrelation and takes a systematic, integrated approach toward improving your financial situation.

Comprehensive financial planning is long range. It presents a strategy for the accumulation, maintenance, and eventual distribution of your wealth, in a written plan to be implemented and fine-tuned over time.

What makes this kind of planning so necessary? If you aim to build and preserve wealth, you must play “defense” as well as “offense.” Too many people see building wealth only in terms of investing – you invest, you “make money,” and that is how you become rich.

That is only a small part of the story. The rich carefully plan to minimize their taxes and debts as well as adjust their wealth accumulation and wealth preservation tactics in accordance with their personal risk tolerance and changing market climates.

Basing decisions on a plan prevents destructive behaviors when markets turn unstable. Quick decision-making may lead investors to buy high and sell low – and overall, investors lose ground by buying and selling too actively. Openfolio, a website which lets tens of thousands of investors compare the performance of their portfolios against portfolios of other investors, found that its average investor earned 5% in 2016. In contrast, the total return of the S&P 500 was nearly 12%. Why the difference? As CNBC noted, most of it could be chalked up to poor market timing and faulty stock picking. A comprehensive financial plan – and its long-range vision – helps to discourage this sort of behavior. At the same time, the plan – and the financial professional(s) who helped create it – can encourage the investor to stay the course.1

A comprehensive financial plan is a collaboration & results in an ongoing relationship. Since the plan is goal-based and values-rooted, both the investor and the financial professional involved have spent considerable time on its articulation. There are shared responsibilities between them. Trust strengthens as they live up to and follow through on those responsibilities. That continuing engagement promotes commitment and a view of success.

Think of a comprehensive financial plan as your compass. Accordingly, the financial professional who works with you to craft and refine the plan can serve as your navigator on the journey toward your goals.

The plan provides not only direction, but also an integrated strategy to try and better your overall financial life over time. As the years go by, this approach may do more than “make money” for you – it may help you to build and retain lifelong wealth.

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This award was issued on 10/1/24 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 1/9/24 through 8/9/24. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 1567 San Francisco East Bay-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 85 (5% of candidates) were named 2024 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2023: 1,291, 87, 7%, 10/1/23, 1/9/23 - 7/31/23; 2022: 1155, 90, 8%, 10/1/22, 1/17/22 - 7/15/22; 2021: 1413, 89, 6%, 10/1/21, 12/28/20 - 7/30/21; 2020: 1260, 88, 7%, 10/1/20, 1/13/20 - 8/7/20; 2019: 1340, 104, 8%, 10/1/19, 12/31/18 - 8/9/19; 2018: 1397, 113, 8%, 10/1/18, 1/16/18 - 8/10/18; 2017: 1049, 95, 9%, 10/1/17, 1/13/17 - 7/28/17; 2016: 948, 182, 19%, 9/1/16, 2/24/16 - 8/22/16; 2015: 2261, 183, 8%, 10/1/15, 3/5/15 - 7/31/15; 2014: 4527, 204, 5%, 10/1/14, 3/5/13 - 7/31/13; 2013: 858, 195, 23%, 10/1/13, 3/5/12 - 7/31/12; 2012: 1145, 233, 20%, 10/1/12, 3/5/11 - 7/31/11.

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This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, a broker/dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser. Cambridge, Protected Investors of America and Protected Investors of America, Rainer Wealth Management are not affiliated. Registered for Securities in CA, IN, MA, NC, NJ, OH, OR, WA.

Citations.

1 - cnbc.com/2017/01/04/most-investors-didnt-come-close-to-beating-the-sp-500.html [1/4/17]

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.