Meeting with a financial advisor can be an important step toward creating a financial plan that helps you advance your short- and long-term goals. Even so, it’s common to have questions about what the process is like — especially if you haven’t done it before.

Of course, financial planning can be helpful for everyone through each phase of life. Your dedicated financial advisor will work with you at every stage to better understand your needs and objectives as well as to provide support. They may also help you streamline the process and point out ways to simplify your asset management.

“The purpose of financial advisors is to help people,” said Terence Powell, Jr., AIF^®, Program Manager at RBFCU Investments Group. “They’re not going to pass judgment if you’re just starting out while young or catching up later in life. I recommend that potential clients go into that first meeting with an open mind … and that they begin now rather than waiting.”

When to meet with a financial advisor

Yes, it’s never too early (or too late) to receive professional financial guidance. However, the sooner you meet with a financial advisor, the more time you have on your side to potentially grow your investments and successfully work to advance your goals.

Some people meet with a financial advisor when they begin their first job. Meanwhile, others may start the process a little later in life, perhaps in the wake of — or in anticipation of — one of life’s big moments.

Broadly speaking, the following common triggers may also prompt a desire to seek help with the development of your personal financial plan:

• Experiencing a major life change (e.g., first job, job change, change in marital status, parenthood)
• Saving for major purchases (e.g., home, education)
• Starting a business
• Serving as a caregiver for a loved one
• Growing curiosity about investment strategies and solutions

What to expect when you meet with a financial advisor

For your first appointment, come ready to share and learn! Financial advisors can provide a wealth of knowledge to help you define your financial goals and understand your investing options.

Typically, the process starts with an in-depth discussion about your current financial situation, what your savings goals are, and perhaps a conversation about personal finance practices.

“Financial professionals are going to encourage you to think about the bigger picture,” Powell said. “They’ll help you define the subcategories of your top-level plan, including things you may not have thought about before.”

For example, you may know you need to save for your children’s education, but you may not have considered how an estate plan can support that goal in case anything happens to you.

Similarly, you might not yet realize how life insurance and even long-term care insurance can be crucial pieces to help protect the financial health of you and your family if the unexpected occurs.

And, while everyone knows planning for retirement is important, not everyone knows what the timetable for that plan should look like.

Creating your family’s financial plan: goals-based or needs-based?

You may have heard about “goals-based” and “needs-based” financial planning, and your financial advisor can walk you through the nuances of those approaches.

“Ultimately, what people should focus on is developing a comprehensive approach to their financial planning,” Powell said, “one that takes your needs, wants and wishes into account while setting your goals as part of an overall strategy.”

Powell noted it can be helpful to prioritize your financial goals based on whether they’re needs like retirement savings, wants like fully funding your child’s college education, or wishes like taking a trip around the world for a milestone wedding anniversary.

Clarifying those priorities may help you to address the most critical elements of your plan first. Then, you can work on the others. That more refined and detailed planning process typically begins by prioritizing your most important needs in relation to your time horizon — or the moment in the future when you’ll need or want to draw on the funds you’ve been saving and potentially growing.

“For example, if you want to retire at 55, how much will you need to save each month to reach that goal, and is that achievable?” Powell said. “How much risk are you comfortable with in terms of the investment strategies¹ available to try to reach that goal?”

If you run into roadblocks, your financial advisor can help you re-examine your priorities and adapt your timelines so that you can meet goals and opportunities with more confidence. They can also help you calibrate your plan to reflect your risk tolerance (how conservative you want to be with investments) and risk capacity (how much you can expose yourself to risk), which may also build a sense of self-efficacy, or a belief that you can accomplish your goals.

Before meeting with your financial advisor

A carefully crafted financial plan usually requires two to three appointments to complete, Powell explained. He also noted that clients specifically meeting with RBFCU Investments Group financial advisors may receive a pre-appointment organizer, once they’ve scheduled their first appointment, and an invitation to fill it out prior to meeting.

This “homework” is optional, but it will pose useful questions that may help shape your first conversation and form the basis of your financial plan.

Questions in this pre-appointment organizer include:

• At what age do you want to retire?
• Do you need to save for your children’s education?
• Do you have an emergency savings fund to cover unexpected costs?

Together with your financial advisor, you can review your answers.

“At your initial meeting, you'll get to know each other, look at the data, discuss your tolerance for risk in investing, and define your goals based on your needs, wants and wishes,” Powell said. “That will be your financial advisor’s first step in making sure all the elements necessary for a financial plan are clearly identified, so they can begin thinking about how to help address your immediate needs. Part of that initial plan might be reducing debt so you can build up your emergency fund, for example.”

Before your next appointment, your financial advisor will review everything you’ve discussed and consider recommendations for your financial plan based on what you shared. That way, when you meet next, they can explain the specific products and strategies they believe could work to help you achieve your financial goals.

“For example,” said Powell, “this might be the planning stage where your financial advisor helps you apply for life insurance and long-term care insurance coverage or arrange a meeting with an estate planning attorney or professional — such as a trust administrator — to initiate a trust if children are in the picture.”

At that point, if the plan looks good, you can review it together and finalize it. If you’d like more time to study it, or if there are more steps your financial advisor recommends, you can arrange a follow-up meeting.

»Tip: If you're ready to start preparing your financial plan, RBFCU Investments Group financial advisors are happy to meet with you for a no-cost, no-obligation initial consultation at an RBFCU branch, over the phone or virtually. Schedule your appointment today.

Why a financial advisor still matters in the AI age

While it is possible in this day and age to turn to artificial intelligence (AI) tools to try to create a financial plan on your own, there is something to be said about having a relationship with an experienced professional you can count on who’s committed to collaborating with you over the long haul. Again, a financial advisor’s purpose is to help people.

“The two most important things financial advisors do include working with clients to build their financial plans and helping them avoid making emotional decisions,” said Powell.

A financial advisor who listens to you, understands your concerns, and who helps you stay grounded when emotions about money run high, can be a valuable resource. Their support may mean the difference between keeping your financial plan in alignment with your goals or allowing your emotional state to prevent you from reaching your financial objectives.

Annual reviews of your financial plan

After the initial set of meetings to create a financial plan, you and your financial advisor will likely schedule times to regularly review it. These appointments usually take place once or twice a year — and sometimes even more frequently, depending upon any changes in your life or to your goals.

Just as annual checkups with your family doctor may help you stay healthy, regular meetings with your financial advisor can help you stay on track with your financial plan. They can also identify potential problems early enough for you to adjust course.

Some things to keep in mind

When you meet for your initial consultation with an RBFCU Investments Group financial advisor, there is no cost and no obligation. However, if you decide to continue the relationship, there may be fees or expenses involved regarding the products and solutions you select for your financial plan and, potentially, for the management of your investments.

“But no matter who you select as your financial advisor, the important thing is that the professional provides you with a clear fee structure upfront and they acknowledge that their responsibility is to you, the client,” said Powell.

He also noted that having a financial plan in place may make you feel more confident when confronting economic volatility, as seen in news headlines.

“We’ve found that, for the most part, our clients feel more assured navigating economic uncertainty because they’ve done the work with us to think through what they want to achieve as well as align their financial plan with their risk tolerance and time horizon.”

The takeaway

Now, with a clearer picture of what it’s like to meet with a financial advisor, you may be ready to get more out of your professional relationship. A good time to start building your financial plan is arguably now, and an experienced financial advisor who shares the same values and service commitment as the credit union you’ve come to trust can be a suitable place to start.

From simple retirement plans to complex investment strategies, RBFCU Investments Group is ready to help you make more informed choices by providing financial planning services tailored to each stage of your life.