By Elizabeth Brown

As a young wealth advisor, I’ve spent the last five years at American Trust Wealth building a career in financial planning and learning how to provide a valuable, long-term service to my clients. One goal I’ve been working toward over the last year is the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, the gold standard in the financial planning world. Reaching that goal requires consistency and discipline, especially on summer evenings when I’d rather be on a patio with friends and family. While this season is temporary, I remind myself often of the privilege of being trusted with clients’ most personal details, the responsibility that comes with it, and the duty to prepare myself to guide my clients through their financial decisions to the best of my ability

My studies have reinforced something that I believe applies in all areas of life, but especially in financial planning: Goal setting is the start and center of meaningful improvement. Without knowing where you’re headed, you will surely have a tough time getting there! This is true personally, professionally, and certainly when it comes to your financial plan. Before we discuss investments, savings strategies, cash flow, or risk management, we first understand “the why”.

Asking the Right Questions

Most of my initial client conversations center around the question, “What do things look like now and what do you wish were different?” It’s a question that can spark some serious brainstorming, leading to worthwhile thought when approaching financial planning. What is most important to me regarding my finances? Am I overspending or underspending, and how do I know? Am I giving enough? Would I rather leave a legacy through my estate, or give to my heirs during my lifetime? What does a retirement lifestyle look like for me? These questions seem simple but lead to a solid foundation for a successful financial plan. They help us move from simply looking at a client’s financials on paper to understanding what they want their wealth to accomplish for them.

Turning Ideas into Goals

After some brainstorming, put pen to paper – and I mean that literally, not your Notes app or in an email. Someone I know once said, “Putting things down in black and white helps me to see things that I may miss when those things are just thoughts in my head.”  If you’re really looking to get specific, break goals up into short-term (less than a year to accomplish), mid-term goals (three to five years), and long-term goals (more than five years). Examples might include becoming completely debt-free, optimizing cash flow or savings strategies, covering education costs for heirs, giving more, and more strategically, retiring early, selling my small business, or simply being more in the know about my finances. Once these are on paper, prioritize them. Knowing today’s top objectives is key to approaching the planning process with clarity.

Turning Goals into Action

This is where working with your advisor comes into play, by turning those wishes into strategies. Defining a clear path to achieving these goals is the only way to make meaningful progress. I encourage you to do this homework, bring this into your next planning meeting, and spend time mapping defined paths to get there. The “SMART” goal framework is one of the most effective tools I’ve found for turning ideas into action: Goals should be “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant” and, most importantly, “Time-Bound”.

For example, if early retirement is your top priority, what does ‘early’ mean to you? How can you allocate more current income into savings vehicles to get access to funds before, say, age 59 ½? After nailing down the strategy, your final goal might read, “Retire at 55 by saving an additional $500/month in an after-tax investment account.” Get good at being specific about the things you want to accomplish.

The Annual Check-In

Review your plan every year. Set aside time to sit down, look at last year’s goals, assess progress, and reevaluate altogether if needed. Life rarely unfolds as expected. Careers change, health events occur, markets fluctuate, children grow up, and priorities evolve. Goals that felt most important five years ago may not carry the same weight today.

This is one of the biggest roadblocks I see as a planner, especially working with clients who have been investors for their entire lives. Through the milestones of marriage, career changes, parenthood, and eventually grandparenthood, it can be easy to lose sight of the original purpose of accumulating wealth. The focus gradually becomes maximizing investment returns rather than identifying what those assets are ultimately intended to accomplish. If this sounds familiar, I encourage you to sit down, get clear with yourself and with your planner on what matters most to you.

Bringing it All Together

Working towards the CFP designation has reminded me that progress doesn’t happen by accident, but with intentional thoughts, preparation, and execution. This is especially true with your personal planning goals. A solid financial plan isn’t a document that sits untouched in a drawer. It’s a goals-based, living roadmap that should be reviewed and adjusted as life changes. Think about the changes you have experienced in the last ten years. How have your priorities shifted? Have your financial goals changed along with them? And perhaps most importantly, have you shared that with your advisor?

Before we ever discuss investments, taxes, healthcare, or estate planning, I encourage you to ask yourself: “What do I want my wealth to accomplish for me?” This answer will be the basis for almost every financial decision that follows.

If you’re ready to put your goals into action, our team of Fiduciary Investments Advisors is here to start the conversation.