What do we mean by Help First?
For anyone interested in working with us, we complete a full review of your finances, centered around a holistic, personalized financial plan.
This includes an unlimited number of meetings and revisions to your financial plan within a 6-month timeframe.
And all of our Help First work is free to you. With no obligation to become a client when finished.
6
Months
5
Areas of planning
Investments
Retirement
Insurance / Risk
Estate
Tax
∞
Revisions of the plan
0
Obligation
100
Dollars to charity for every plan created
The Commitment
This is a mutual commitment, and we need you to show up too. The process will be more powerful this way. We understand the deeply personal nature of our work, and so we treat it with reverence. Our commitment is to do the work that we know will help; yours is to send us the information we need in order to do our work. You’ll also spend some time meeting with us, to discuss the conclusions we’ve formed.
No Obligation
There’s no obligation for you to become a client once we do the work. You can take the financial plan and execute it on your own if you (or we) decide that working together for the long-term isn’t a good fit. If you do choose to walk away, we want you armed with the tools and knowledge to be able to implement your financial plan in an empowering, DIY way.
The Plan
We typically start with a long-term cash flow analysis that looks at your income, spending, and investment returns over many decades. We look for speed bumps, and recommend practical steps for you to take today. We also address topics like estate planning, taxes, employee benefits, education planning, and insurance — we speak this language and can help discern whether you need assistance in those areas and what kind of help you should be asking for.
How Does it Work?
We Get Acquainted
You set up an appointment so we can all get acquainted, which usually lasts an hour.
Next Steps
You decide whether to proceed to the Help First process. If you do, we’ll ask for a list of documents and information, which will allow us to start our work.
The Plan
It usually takes us about 3-4 weeks to put together an initial financial plan. When complete, we’ll meet (in person or virtually) to walk you through the plan.
Refinement
During our initial review, there are often questions and new ideas. We want to make as many revisions as it takes to make sure the financial plan reflects your reality.
Implementation
We follow your lead. Usually by this point we’ve come up with at least half a dozen recommendations or projects that we can guide you through, so you just let us know what you’d like to prioritize first.
We will never push you to sign up and become a client. That decision will come from you whenever you’re ready. We’ll make sure you have the tools to be able to implement your own plan, or if we don’t feel like the right fit for you, we can even help you find someone else.
Why Do We Help First?
- We love the work we do, and the impact we have for people.
It feeds our souls. - People become more comfortable with us through the process. We’ve had a chance to prove our value to them with no strings attached.
- People are more likely to refer others. They understand through this experience that we aren’t trying to sell anything.
- Our client relationships end up being a lot richer and more meaningful. And the work becomes a lot more fun. That pays spiritual and emotional dividends for everyone involved, especially our team.
- It saves us time in the long run, too. Not everyone is a fit for us, and that’s perfectly fine. Some people just want money management, not a deep dive into how their finances touch all aspects of their life. This process lets us see the difference.
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