Do you know how many buzzwords there are? Just the word “Buzzword” brings up over 6 million results on the Internet. There is even a Buzzword of the Day. Dictionary.com defines Buzzword as a word or phrase, often sounding authoritative or technical, that is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture, etc.
Financial planning has become such a buzzword resulting in over 22 million Internet search results. The term, “Financial Planning” appears quite often in all types of media. But, what is it?
If we start with the Financial Planning Association website, we get a very short concise, but accurate, definition of financial planning as "Preparing for Life Events.”
The more I thought about it the better I liked this definition. What would be “Life Events?” Well the list is quite lengthy to include:
- Retirement
- Buying a home
- Bankruptcy
- Credit repair
- Investing
- Divorce
- Getting married
- Starting a family
- Insurance
- College
- Selling a business
- Estate Planning
- Caring for loved ones and the list goes on!
As with most things in life, the more carefully one prepares; the smoother those “Life Events” likely will unfold. However, preparing for even a few of those things in my “Life Events” list appears to be very overwhelming. To the rescue -- the financial planning profession.
Over three decades ago, those doing true financial planning realized the need for additional specialized education and certification. The outcome was The College of Financial Planning and the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® designation. The coursework is rigorous and is offered at various universities. The CFP® designation requires successful completion of required coursework and challenging testing.
So how do you get started? Start by organizing your affairs. This is not as complex as it may seem, thanks to numerous financial planning tools now available on the Internet and from Carnegie Investment Counsel. Contact us for a set of forms and worksheets to get started.
With the New Year beginning, now is an ideal time to get your financial planning rolling. In addition, planning now is likely to assist you with your upcoming income tax filing.
Need some help? Carnegie Investment Counsel has fee only CFP®’s that can assist you through the process. Being a registered investment advisor and therefore a fiduciary, Carnegie’s CFP®’s will always make recommendations that are in your best interest.
