Essentials of Personal Financial Planning

ESSENTIALS OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING: AN INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

Essentials of Personal Financial Planning was written to challenge the status quo by promoting personal financial planning as a profession, not as a sales tool to gather assets under management or facilitate sales of insurance products. This book has been a labor of love for the authors: we are both personal financial planners; we both have a passion for personal financial planning; and yes, we are married.

We believe personal financial planning is a profession, like accounting, law, or medicine. The authors believe that CPAs are the ones called to take personal financial planning to a professional level. CPAs are bound by the AICPA’s rules of conduct, ethics, and standards of practice to provide their services in a professional manner. When personal financial planning is offered as a professional service, individuals and families will no longer have to receive it as a “side” service offered by individuals who are only interested in managing assets or selling products.

True personal financial planning enriches the lives of individuals, families, and the communities in which they live. The concept of the greater good being served by the effective stewardship of one’s financial resources is an ancient one, and has its origin in the Greek city-states. The household steward was provided an allowance with which to run the household. The role of the steward was to pay wages, purchase goods and services, and invest ...