Learn what it takes to be a success from the ‘all-stars’ of the financial planning and advisory profession Financial planning involves everything from determining the client's financial position, cash flow, and investment strategies, to income tax planning, risk management, insurance, and retirement and estate planning. Financial planners and advisors are responsible for recommendations and decisions that help people define and achieve their financial goals. Rattiner's Secrets of Financial Planning gives industry professionals the opportunity to hear and learn from ‘the best of the best’ in the field. Author Jeffrey H. Rattiner, a respected leader in Certified Financial Planning (CFP), shares real-world insights and expert advice from hundreds of top-level advisors in the financial planning industry. Readers gain firsthand knowledge of the challenges these successful planners have faced and how they continue to build their practices and reap success in a dynamic financial environment. This comprehensive resource includes templates based on what the best CFPs use in their practices for work programs, data quantification reports, asset allocation model portfolios, pro forma statements, and checklists for each technical financial planning discipline. Designed specifically for industry professionals, this in-depth book: Offers CFPs and financial advisors proven advice and practical methods to take their practice to the next level Includes contributions from and interviews with the leading advisors in the profession Provides templates taken from the practices of high-level financial advisors Explains the key ingredients for building a superior financial planning practice Helps develop successful financial planners and strengthen profitable practices Rattiner's Secrets of Financial Planning: From Running Your Practice to Optimizing Your Client's Experience is an important resource for CFPs, CPAs, financial advisors, financial planners, and high-level corporate executives working in the financial services industry.

Growth in the financial planning field has skyrocketed -- drawing professionals from accounting and financial services to investment management. Now there is a book that addresses the needs of individuals contemplating or beginning careers in financial planning. This book presents a blueprint for launching a successful future in a lucrative, exciting profession. Noted financial planning practitioner Jeffrey Rattiner covers everything aspiring and beginning planners need to know. He takes the reader through the basics of what financial planners do and provides insight about where the field is headed. Topics include education and certification requirements, options for specialization, fee structures, logistics and technology, compliance, and legal issues. Rattiner also shows planners the best methods for client prospecting and marketing, and lists helpful resources for ongoing education. This easy-to-use guide gives a direct, turnkey approach to entering the field and setting up a financial planning practice. Special forms, checklists, and other useful tools reinforce the hands-on appeal of this practical guide.

Take charge of your finances with little-known advice from a financial expert. There are six interrelated segments to a complete financial plan: Cash & Budget Planning, Insurance & Risk Management, Tax Management, Retirement Planning, Investment Planning, and Estate Planning. What aspects of the financial plan require sophisticated planning by a professional, and what can savvy, well-educated consumers handle themselves? The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning empowers readers to take charge of their financial present and future, regardless of where they are financially, by presenting technical jargon in a way that’s easy to understand. Here is sage advice and insider information known to the very few: Written for DIYers and those needing to select or understand advisors Useful for new savers up to mid-retirees 30 dramatic true stores of client triumphs and tragedies—no dull case studies Unbiased perspective is neither insurance nor investment skewed, and provides industry secrets Access via author website to customizable spreadsheets and more Here is sage advice and insider information known to the very few. For example, consumers buy more long-term care insurance than they need because their advisors are forbidden to show them alternative or supplemental strategies. They buy one large life policy when best-practice analysis usually would find need for two smaller, distinctive types. They get recommendations for annuity, insurance, and investment replacement, but how can they be certain the answers they get are unbiased? Author Dan Gallagher provides advice and counsel that will help readers set the stage for financial security for themselves and their families. He shares what you can do yourself and when you need a pro’s help.

This book will provide you with a short, but thorough introduction into the vast world of Financial Planning. It will touch on all the important aspects to guide you on the path to a safe and secure financial future. Every chapter has its action list. Throughout the book, there will reference websites that will help you further. Patrick Peterhans

Covering the five key areas of financial planning, this guide emphasizes its technical, tax, and regulatory aspects. The areas of discussion include investments, employee benefits and retirement plan assets, insurance, income tax and estate planning, and regulatory issues.