Kirsch & Associates

Regardless, we believe that before you can make wise investment decisions, you have to start with an understanding of where you are today and where you hope to go. Major life changes, whether planned or unplanned, often may also require you to determine “who you are” today and “what” is important to you and “why”.

The CFP® Board of Standards of Professional Conduct defines traditional financial planning using these six steps:

• Establish and define the client-planner relationship
• Gather client data including goals
• Analyze and evaluate the client's current financial status
• Develop and present recommendations and/or alternatives
• Implement the recommendations
• Monitor the recommendations

Life-changing events, whether planned or unplanned, create complexity that calls for additional tools and process beyond traditional financial planning. When in the midst of a life-changing event, you have to address the change itself, before you can make decisions about the money.

For this reason, Kirsch & Associates has created a fee-based process that integrates traditional financial planning with transition planning and personal coaching to help you bridge the gap between the personal and technical sides of change and map a course to the new you. We call our unique approach The TruWealth® Process.

The TruWealth Process covers all the steps in a traditional financial plan and includes the ability to monitor your progress through our web-based Wealth Management Systems™. Beyond that, it includes additional tools to help you address the personal side of change and make decisions that require adaptive and critical thinking.

Because we are trained in the art and science of transition using Sudden Money Institute’s curriculum, you can expect tools to help you:

• Determine what has changed and if you are ok
• Identify, organize and prioritize your decisions
• Articulate your communications preferences and create agreements
• Assess your talents and strengths
• Comprehend and visualize recommendations
• Manage other’s expectations
• Track your progress
• Write and reinvent your story

The ultimate goal of The TruWealth® Process is to help our clients strive for peace in the present moment and confidence about the future by addressing both the personal and technical sides of money management, insurance and investments. By helping you address both sides of money, you can align your financial, tax, and legal pieces with your goals, values and ideal future self so that you can make smart financial decisions and move forward with confidence and a sense of purpose.

Due to the complexity of The TruWealth® Process, it is broken into phases. Based on past client experience, you can expect each phase to take three to six months, and expect it to take longer if you’re in an unplanned transition like widowhood or divorce.

All phases include:

• Web-based reports updated daily through Wealth Management Systems™
• Software training and account connections
• Limited online document storage
• Alternative scenarios and testing
• Visual and written illustrations to accompany the numbers that articulate the “What, How & Why” of your alternative choices and decisions
• Personal coaching tools and exercises that create opportunity for a more successful transition. topics include communications preferences, decision prioritization, managing expectations (yours and others), determining what has changed, reinvention and more

Phase I | The Foundations Phase includes a comprehensive discovery process to deep-dive into your goals, dreams and desires for a better understanding of who you are and what’s important to you, where you are financially, how you best learn and communicate, and how you can work toward your short and long-term goals. The goal of Phase I is to define your “ideal self” and develop a cash flow plan that aligns with that ideal self and supports you both now and into the future. Phase I includes the following:

• Mind Mapping of Goals, Interests & Relationships
• Communications Preference Exercise
• Touchstones Exercise & Financial Mission Statement
• Dream Card Exercise & Core Values Statement
• Organizational Style Identification Tool
• Decision Free Zone for Organizing, Prioritizing and Systematizing
• Financial Data Collection, Organization & Entry into Web-Based Wealth Management Systems™
• Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Statements: Creation, Review and Planning
• Retirement Planning Projections + Risk Mitigation Exercise to Identify What could Prevent Success
  Total: $3,500

Additional Services Available:
Education Planning  |  + $100/child
Buy/Sell of Asset  |  + $100/transportation
Domestic Real Estate Holdings Review  |  + $250/asset
Goal Planning and Meeting  |  + $500/goal 
Budgeting and Meeting  |  + $500
Employee Benefits Evaluation  |  +$500
Business Planning and Meeting  |  +$1,000

Phase II | The Investment & Tax-Planning Phase allows you to apply what you learned in Phase I to create investment portfolios that support optimal outcomes. You will determine your personal risk/reward comfort level based on the science of behavioral finance and learn how you can integrate this personal information with the external finances to develop an investment statement and strategy. You will learn techniques based on the latest academic research for structuring your portfolio to optimize returns while mitigating investment risks. You will also determine what you value most from your relationship with your financial professionals so that you can structure an ideal working relationship for monitoring your investments on an on-going basis. The goal of Phase II is to create an investment portfolio in alignment with your “ideal self” as well as give you confidence that your investment plan has the potential to support you both now and into the future. Phase II includes the following:

• Financial DNA® & Investment Statement Creation
• Income Distribution Tools & Strategies
• Investment Screening & Historical Time Weighted Performance
• Asset Allocation & Investment Recommendations
• 401(k) Review
• Income Tax Projections & Mitigation
• Consultation with Accountant
• Graphic Summary of Income & Investment Plan
• Advisor-Assisted Account Connections into Wealth Management Systems™
  Total: See hourly rate chart below

Phase III | The Overcoming Risk & Leaving a Legacy Phase includes a review of your current insurance policies and estate plan with the goal of making sure that they are in alignment with the goals, dreams and “ideal self” that you articulated in Phase I. You will develop an Income & Asset Protection Plan, a Family Giving Statement and a Legacy Plan to provide for the protection of what you’ve accumulated and the care and development of your loved ones. The goal of Phase III is to allow you to prepare for contingencies both now and in the future, even beyond your lifetime. Phase III includes:

• Disability or Long-Term Care Needs Calculations & Planning
• Life Insurance Needs Calculations & Planning
• Income & Asset Protection Plan
• Estate, Texas Probate & Legacy Distribution Planning
• Account Titling & Beneficiary Review
• Legal Document Review
  *We are not attorneys and any legal information is for educational purposes only. You should obtain competent legal counsel before implementing any legal strategies.
• Estate Tax Projections
• In Case of Emergency (ICE) Worksheet
• Consultation with Legal Team
• Graphic Summary of Estate Plan
  Total: $3,000

Additional Services Available:
Change of Investment Titles/Beneficiaries (Assets Held at K&A)  |  +$100/account
Change of Investment Titles/Beneficiaries (Assets Held Away)  |  +$200/account
Administration of Estate Distribution to Heirs  |  Ask for quote
In force Policy Review  |  +$250
Family Meeting  |  +$500
Family Giving & Sharing or Charitable Gift Planning  |  +$1,000
Business Succession Planning   |  +$2,500

We recognize that from time to time, you may have needs that do not fit into our normal bundle. We will be happy to discuss how we can help you and are available on an hourly rate for these services.

Administrative  |  $50.00 per hr
Data Input  |  $85.00 per hr
Research  |  $150.00 per hr
Financial Planning  |  $350.00 per hr
Financial Planning & Research  |  $400 per hr