Wiggin Financial Planning, |
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Deborah F. Wiggin, owner of the Fort Lauderdale financial planning firm Wiggin Financial Planning, is among the first financial planners in the state to implement the latest trend in financial planning, Financial Life Planning. The Financial Life Planning approach shifts the emphasis of financial planning from spreadsheets and rates-of-returns to helping clients formulate their "life of choice." Once those life goals are crystallized, a financial strategy is recommended that supports the unfolding life plan and its financial requirements. “Traditional financial planners strategize money goals, not life goals. Quantifying future goals and analyzing risk tolerance, age, and retirement income needs have been the norm for investment planning,” said Wiggin. “What we’ve discovered over the years is that many clients are on a blind course for deep-seated reasons they don’t realize and certainly haven’t analyzed. “The Financial Life Planning approach allows us to walk clients through a reflective process to help them take a revealing look at who they are and where they want to be in the future. Then we’re in an ideal position to create an individually tailored plan that helps them realize their dreams.” The Financial Life Planning concept was developed by George Kinder, founder of The Kinder Institute of Life Planning, author of “The Seven Stages of Money Maturity®” and widely acknowledged as the founding father of the financial life planning movement. A Certified Financial Planner™ professional with more than thirty years experience counseling clients, Kinder is “one of the top 25 most influential people in financial planning” (“Investment Advisor” magazine, May 2003). According to Kinder, the most common categories for the financial life plan are family, spirit, creativity and community, in that order. “These are things most financial planners have tossed off as qualitative and not the province of financial planning,” explains Kinder. “In Financial Life Planning, these things become the focus of the plan. We should always be asking ourselves: How can we use money skills to deliver what we most profoundly wish for?” Wiggin Financial Planning has been practicing this approach in a limited way for many years without realizing it. They have consistently worked to tap into the dreams of their clients so that they may effectively plan their financial futures. Kinder’s Financial Life Planning concepts fit ideally into their existing financial planning philosophies. Wiggin Financial Planning has participated in 3 rigorous multiple-day training sessions provided by the Kinder Institute. Only 450 people worldwide have participated in Kinder’s training. Wiggin fianacial Planning will be hosting, in the near future, a series of workshops for the public on “The Seven Stages of Money Maturity®”. Once Wiggin Financial Planning works through the discovery of life goals with their clients, they offer expert financial advice. The firm reviews and develops investment portfolios and provides ongoing investment management services; analyzes client assets in connection with estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes; counsels in pre-retirement and post-retirement planning; offers general budget planning with an eye toward client goals and objectives; provides education planning; and offers financial analysis of divorce settlement options. Tying the firm’s financial expertise to client goals discovered through Life Planning results in a financial plan that is truly effective for the client. |
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