Financial Life Planning

We’ve consistently seen that the deeper our clients hold and implement LifeGuide’s Planning Principles, the better the results they achieve:

1. Money is only a means to an end. 
   1. This one is crucial: Money is not an end in itself. Money’s value resides in its ability to meet needs and turn goals into reality—that’s it! We don’t invest for the sake of investing or save solely for the sake of saving. In fact, we have no idea what you should do with your money until we clearly understand what you want your money to do for you.
      
      In other words: Your LifePlan is goal driven.
2. Your lifestyle, career, values, relationships, faith, and financial decisions are all interconnected.
   1. A good physician reviews your entire health history and lifestyle, performs a thorough physical exam, identifies your medications, and understands your health goals prior to prescribing treatment. In the same way, we believe it’s equally important to have a complete understanding of your goals, concerns, values, and current financial picture prior to making any recommendations. Because every decision could have long-reaching effects, each decision must be evaluated and aligned in order to achieve the desired result. There are no independent decisions. Important decisions should not be made in isolation or based on emotion. Instead, they should always be made in the context of your overall LifePlan.
      
      In other words: Your LifePlan is holistic.
3. Plans must be goal-driven, not product-centric.
   1. A comprehensive plan provides the context needed to design your portfolio and select the appropriate insurance products. Once you know where you’re headed, what you need, and how it should all fit together, you’re able to make better, more coordinated decisions.
      
      In other words: The Financial Life Planning approach is plan-centric, not product-centric.
4. Plans should be constructed from the ground up based on your individual situation.
   1. You are unique. You have your own goals, passions, values, concerns, and starting point. While rules of thumb are fast and easy, they are inadequate for both today’s and tomorrow’s complex financial world. Automated, cookie-cutter planning approaches produce pages upon pages of financial analysis that often sit on the shelf and collect dust. By starting with a blank sheet of paper and custom tailoring your LifePlan around your specific situation, we’re able to produce an understandable, useful, stress-tested, and results-driven plan.
      
      In other words: Your LifePlan is custom tailored, understandable, and clearly communicated.
5. Plans must be meticulously carried out.
   1. Because we want every client to succeed, we not only translate your goals into an actionable plan, we provide ongoing accountability and guidance to help you stay on course. Whether you have an advanced knowledge of finances or are learning the basics, we will present your LifePlan in a way that’s meaningful to you. After each meeting, you’ll receive a list of specific action items to complete as well as the support needed to help you get it done. Your LifePlan is a living document, updated and referenced regularly to help keep you on track.
      
      In other words: Your LifePlan is designed to be practical and diligently implemented.
6. It’s difficult to manage your own money, especially when the going gets tough.
   1. For the vast majority of people, financial decisions are too complex and emotionally charged to consistently make wise decisions over the course of a lifetime. And the stakes are high: just one or two bad decisions clouded by emotion or limited perspective can have significant, unintended consequences for years to come. Having a skilled and trusted advisor, however, brings a calming clarity and objectivity that cuts through emotion and confusion during challenging times. Important or uncomfortable decisions too often get placed on the back burner, only to come to the forefront in times of crisis—at which time it may, unfortunately, be too late. We aim to uncover your blind spots, encourage you when you need encouragement, teach you when you need to be taught, and motivate you when you need motivation.
      
      In other words: A trusted advisor increases your probability of success.

Your comprehensive Financial LifePlan dives into every aspect of your financial picture. It lays a strong foundation of the “what” and “why” of your life, and then clearly lays out the stress-tested, analyzed “how” to get you there.

Typical areas we address include:

• Goal discovery, clarification, and quantification
• Budgeting and cash flow management
• Retirement income planning and stress testing
• Education and large expense planning
• Pension option selection
• Social Security claiming strategies
• Tax planning strategies
• Asset and income protection
• Legacy planning and heir preparation
• Financial training for children and grandchildren
• Widow and widower support
• Charitable giving strategies
• Investment portfolio structuring and asset location
• Business and farm succession planning
• Executive compensation planning

At LifeGuide, we see money as a tool to meet needs, turn goals into a reality, live generously, and leave a lasting impact. Every person’s life, situation, and goals are completely unique.

This is where your Financial LifePlan comes in. Until we know the kind of life you want to live, the legacy you want to leave, and what you want your money to do for you, we don’t know what to do with your money. We’re in business to help families achieve financial peace, freedom, and eternal impact because we believe these three principles are foundational to a fulfilled life.

So, your comprehensive Financial LifePlan helps clearly define what’s most important and provides a practical, stress-tested roadmap to help get you there.

We’ve seen time and again how our comprehensive Financial LifePlans provide clients:

• Broader perspective
  • Defining goals, putting things in order, addressing problem areas, and seeing how dreams can become a reality can help promote a broader perspective.
• Reduced fear and anxiety
  • Throughout the process, we provide insight and wisdom. We help discern fact from fiction, create simplicity from complexity, and separate emotion from reason. This helps alleviate anxiety by providing a clear understanding of risks and how to address them.
• Freedom to enjoy and give
  • Clear, understandable, and achievable plans unlock the hesitancy to give and unleash the ability to spend time doing the things that matter most.
• Wise decision-making
  • The clearer the plan, the easier it is to make wise decisions. Financial LifePlans reveal the future impact of today’s decisions, eliminating the need to guess or rely on simplistic rules of thumb.
• Goal achievement
  • Without a plan, achieving your goals is left to chance. A LifePlan allows you to intentionally focus your time, talent, and resources on making your dreams a reality.
• Living consistent with values
  • LifePlans help to bring a practical alignment between what you value most and your day-to-day decision-making.
• Unity, determination, and resolve
  • LifePlans create a common financial language and shared vision for you and your family. Determination, resolve, and teamwork emerge when everyone knows where they are going and what they need to do to get there.

Our Financial Life Planning meetings are designed to help you experience a new level of clarity and inspiration around your finances. We’ve seen time and again the breakthroughs our clients experience, and how these fuel progress toward their goals as they have never seen.

Initial Meetings

1. Exploration Meeting
   1. Purpose: Get to know each other
   2. Deliverable: Your personalized fee and service proposal
2. Vision Meeting
   1. Purpose: Identify and clarify your why- your purpose, priorities, and passions
   2. Deliverable: Your “Essential Elements”
3. Strategies Meeting
   1. Purpose: Uncover any obstacles to success and develop strategies for overcoming them
   2. Deliverable: Your Obstacles, Strategies, and Plans
4. LifePlan Presentation & Recommendations Meeting
   1. Purpose: Review your personalized plan and our advice and recommendations.
   2. Deliverable: Your comprehensive Financial LifePlan and NextStep recommendations
5. Portfolio Design & Implementation Meeting
   1. Purpose: Review your recommended portfolio design and select your investment strategy based on your personal convictions, values, and preferences.
   2. Deliverable: Your personalized portfolio and investment recommendations (includes recommendations for your employer retirement plans)

Ongoing Meetings

1. OnTrack Review Meetings
   1. Purpose: Answer questions, review progress, and make adjustments as life unfolds
   2. Deliverable: A follow-up email summarizing progress, next steps, and smart ideas
2. Check-in Calls or Meetings
   1. Purpose: Discuss urgent situations and questions
   2. Deliverable: A follow-up summary email

Learn more about our meeting structure and what to expect »

Principles for Financial Success:

1. Recognize that God owns it all
2. Take a long-term view
3. Spend less than you earn
4. Plan for financial margin
5. Minimize the use of debt
6. Be generous

Lifestyle: The Bible does not explicitly define an appropriate lifestyle. Financial contentment is not achieved by arriving at a particular lifestyle but rather from living within the means of God’s provision.

Investing: Investing is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. Wealth is generally built by systematically saving over time. There is wisdom in seeking professional counsel and following a principled investment strategy in the context of a comprehensive LifePlan.

Net Worth: It is not possible to accumulate enough to feel financially secure, significant, or fulfilled. Each person’s “ENOUGH” is unique to them and should be determined through prayer and careful planning. Net worth is only a measure of God’s provision and not of significance or success.

Generosity & Giving: Generosity is core to the character of God. Since we are created in His image, we were made to give. Giving benefits both the receiver and the donor. Generosity is an effective antidote for greed. Giving should be done regularly, cheerfully, intentionally, and proportionately to income.

Goals & Guardrails: Goals and guardrails help us identify and prioritize what we value most. Goals are to be achieved. Guardrails are not to be violated. Effective planning begins with short- and long-term goals. Goals are a statement of faith and one way to see God at work. Goals are measured in terms of desired results and time. Guardrails help keep us on track by alerting us when we need to correct course.

Debt: Borrowing is not in and of itself wrong. Chronic, consumptive borrowing causes stress, limits financial flexibility, and mortgages the future. Debt often becomes a barrier to peace and fulfillment. A husband and wife should be in harmony about borrowing decisions. It is important to teach children about the dangers of debt. One of the keys to financial freedom is becoming totally debt free.

Insurance: Insurance is an integral part of a comprehensive LifePlan. Purchasing appropriate insurance does not demonstrate a lack of faith but rather prudent planning. Using insurance to protect against every risk and achieve total peace of mind is not possible. Only God can provide true peace and security.

Taxes: Careful tax planning with the goal of not paying unnecessary taxes is prudent. However, it should never be the ultimate driving force in financial decisions. Taxes should be calculated and paid honestly. In many ways, taxes are an indicator of God’s blessings.

Legacy Planning: Legacy planning is more than just estate planning. Both money and wisdom can be passed on for future generations. Money left without wisdom can have unforeseen and undesirable consequences. Legacy planning should begin early in life and consider the impact on beneficiaries as its primary objective. Fair does not always mean equal. Beneficiaries should appropriately be prepared and not surprised by legacy planning decisions.

Absolutely. If you seek to live intentionally, generously, and impactfully, we’ve built our firm for you.

We seek to serve everyone with kindness, respect, and honesty. We have clients from a variety of faith traditions, including those who do not view faith as an important part of their life. While we operate from a Christian worldview, we realize everyone is at a unique place on their journey. We meet you wherever you are to help you live intentionally, generously, and impactfully.