Getting Started at Finance by Design, Inc.

To get started on your planning, the Confidential Questionnaire needs be completed and returned to Finance by Design, Inc. This allows Colleen to evaluate your individual circumstances and determine the level of service. She will then call you to discuss your planning needs.

Finance by Design, Inc., provides three levels of service, depending on your needs. Those levels are:

• Flat Fee
• Hourly with self implementation
• Retainer

Flat Fee

The flat fee is designed for those who have questions they need answers for such as:

• When should I take Social Security?
• Should I pay off my mortgage?
• Should I establish a Roth IRA?
• How do I best reduce my income taxes?
• Do I have sufficient insurance?
• Do I need long term care insurance?
• What is the best way to pay down accumulated debts?
• How much should my emergency fund be?
• And many more depending on each client’s situation

The flat fee is designed as a one time meeting. The fee is $575. Additional time can be available at the standard hourly rate of $195 if other issues come up through the discussion process during the flat fee meeting. The client is expected to bring in all relevant information for the meeting in order for questions to be answered as efficiently as possible. Clients create a to do list during the meeting for them to implement.

Retirement planning and investment advice are not available in the Flat Fee program. Those services are provided in the Hourly and Retainer service levels.

Hourly with self implementation and Retainer

Finance by Design’s core mission is helping clients become financially self sufficient, whether they want to retire as soon as possible or want the option of retiring at a certain age. In order to accomplish this mission, retirement projections are performed for all clients based on the client’s specific circumstances. Once the parameters for the planning are known, clients decide if they want to self implement or have Finance by Design provide implementation services.

Get Acquainted Meeting

An initial meeting is conducted to review your needs and obtain additional information about your situation. Additional documentation is usually required, which can be brought with you to the meeting. At the meeting, Colleen will work with you to determine what your needs and life goals are and the services that are required to provide the planning steps and a fee estimate. You then decide how to proceed. There is a $50 fee for the meeting which is applied toward the planning. There are two options:

Hourly with self implementation

A plan is created and a written report prepared. The report is reviewed and discussed at the follow up conference. Investment recommendations are made, usually at a separate investment conference. The investments can be held wherever you choose. You will implement the planning and investment recommendations in the report. Fees begin at $1,000.

Retainer

A plan is created and the client will implement some of the recommendations and Finance by Design will implement others, specifically the investment recommendations. An update report is prepared every six to twelve months to keep track of plan implementation progress, planning and investment updates and needed investment changes. Minimum investable assets of $500,000 is required for this service. Fees begin at $2,500.

The Mission is Simple: Help clients use their finances to achieve their life goals.