Fireside Financial Planning, Inc.

Financial planning is the process of providing advice and assistance for the purpose of achieving intermediate and long-term financial goals.

Comprehensive financial planning includes specific areas of the client's financial history along with other areas of concern. The basic areas include: financial statement analysis for net worth and cash flow, investment portfolio analysis or planning, income tax planning, risk management (appropriate insurance), retirement planning and estate planning. Other areas of general concern may include education funding, charitable planning and business planning. The financial planning process can also be applied to meet the client's needs on a more focused or specialized basis.

Here's what to bring to your first meeting with us: Initial Meeting Checklist (pdf)

The financial planning process includes six basic steps:

1. Gathering information about your current financial resources
   
2. Setting goals that you want to accomplish within a specific time frame
   
3. Identifying financial problems
   
4. Preparing written alternatives and recommendations
   
5. Implementing the agreed upon recommendations
   
6. Periodic reviewing the plan for any necessary modifications or revisions
   

We approach portfolio design from a long-term perspective. Our portfolios are designed to achieve reasonable and consistent returns, without excessive risk or volatility. Achieving financial independence is possible if you follow two simple rules: you must fully understand your investments and live comfortably with them.

As a fee-only service, we have materially eliminated any potential conflict of interest associated with product affiliations. Therefore, we do not sell products, nor do we receive any commissions for products recommended.

A fee is set based on an hourly rate for limited consultations that focus on specific areas of concern; a flat rate for a comprehensive financial plan; or a percentage of your active assets for portfolio design and/or management. Naturally, the fee will reflect the time necessary to organize and evaluate your financial resources. The cost is moderate, and a substantial portion of the fee may be tax-deductible. We are confident that if you follow our recommendations, the financial benefit you experience will significantly offset the cost.

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® and federally registered CFP® (with flame design) marks (collectively, the “CFP® marks”) are professional certification marks granted in the United States by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (“CFP Board”). The CFP® certification is a voluntary certification; no federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold CFP® certification.

To attain the right to use the CFP® marks, an individual must satisfactorily fulfill the following requirements:

• Education – Complete an advanced college-level course of study addressing the financial planning subject areas that CFP® Board’s studies have determined as necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services, and attain a Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally accredited United States college or university (or its equivalent from a foreign university). CFP® Board’s financial planning subject areas include insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning; . Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The examination includes case studies and client scenarios designed to test one’s ability to correctly diagnose financial planning issues and apply one’s knowledge of financial planning to real world circumstances; . Experience – Complete at least three years of full-time financial planning-related experience (or the equivalent, measured as 2,000 hours per year); and
• Ethics – Agree to be bound by CFP® Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct, a set of documents outlining the ethical and practice standards for CFP® professionals.

Individuals who become certified must complete the following ongoing education and ethics requirements in order to maintain the right to continue to use the CFP® marks:

• Continuing Education – Complete 30 hours of continuing education hours every two years, including two hours on the Code of Ethics and other parts of the Standards of Professional Conduct, to maintain competence and keep up with developments in the financial planning field; and
• Ethics – Renew an agreement to be bound by the Standards of Professional Conduct. The Standards prominently require that CFP® professionals provide financial planning services at a fiduciary standard of care. This means CFP® professionals must provide financial planning services in the best interests of their clients.

CFP® professionals who fail to comply with the above standards and requirements may be subject to CFP® Board’s enforcement process, which could result in suspension or permanent revocation of their CFP® certification.