To Clients: Presenting your financial plan

(May 2006) You’ve created a financial plan and are now ready to present it to your client. If you wish to send the plan to your client in advance of meeting, use this letter from the Financial Planning Practitioner’s Guide — created by the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners — as a template. This letter provides a brief outline of what is in the plan, asks the client to review it and confirms that you will be meeting to discuss the next steps.

Dear [Client’s name],

I am pleased to provide you with this copy of your financial plan. The recommendations in this report are based on my evaluation of your current financial situation and the financial goals that you have identified.

This report includes the following:

• a summary of your current financial situation;
• a statement of your goals and objectives;
• an evaluation of your current progress towards those goals, and a needs analysis to identify projected shortfalls;
• a discussion of the assumptions used in preparing your plan, and their sensitivity to change;
• recommended strategies for reaching your goals; and
• an action plan for implementation.

Think of this report as a game plan. If you follow it, you will be more likely to achieve your financial objectives. The key to success, therefore, is moving forward and implementing my recommendations. To this end, I ask that you review the report, including its recommendations and action plan, prior to our meeting on [insert date]. At that time, we can discuss any questions that you may have, before we focus on the action plan. If you need help in implementing any of the recommendations, I can provide you with the names of trusted investment advisors, insurance agents, or lawyers.

[Client’s name], it has been a pleasure working with you and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for placing your trust in me. I look forward to helping you implement, monitor and update your plan during the coming years, and will enjoy watching you progress towards your goals.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

[Your signature]

•••

This template is part of the Financial Planning Practitioner’s Guide created by the CIFPs which is available exclusively to its members. The CIFPs is an association of Canadian CFP™ licensees. The association is an independent, effective and powerful CFP-focused advocate for the CFP™ certification marks and the financial planning profession in Canada.

The Financial Planning Practitioner’s Guide won the “Award of Excellence” in a competition for technical publications sponsored by the Society of Technical Communication

(05/26/06)