A planning meeting with a financial advisor is an excellent step towards reaching your long-term goals. But it’s important to be aware of the questions you may be asked as these conversations can quickly get personal. And they should be. Only by opening up about your spending habits, your plans for retirement or that bucket-list vacation can your advisor truly understand your situation and prepare a plan that’s going to make those hopes and dreams a reality. 

Here are six questions you should be prepared for in a financial planning conversation.

1. What investments, if any, do you currently have?

If you have external investments, you’ll need to provide copies of your statements to your financial advisor. This includes everything from assets at various financial institutions to your defined contribution pension to private equity holdings. Having an understanding of
your full financial picture is necessary to help your financial advisor create a plan moving forward.

2. What are your retirement and savings goals?

Your advisor will want to see your CPP, OAS and workplace pension statements, if applicable, but they will also get into some qualitative questions. When do you plan to retire, will you fully or partially retire? What does retirement look like? Are you becoming a
snowbird? Buying a property?

The answers could change your whole retirement outlook so it’s important to dive into them.

3. What does your current budget look like?

When making a plan to reach your financial goals, it’s important to consider your monthly spend. Your financial advisor will want to look at everything—the debts you have, the interest on them, the balances, when they come up for renewal, what your plans are for
them, whether you’re paying the minimum or more. Your advisor may also ask: What major expenditures do you expect to have over your lifetime? Are you paying for a child’s wedding? How many vehicles will you be buying in retirement? Will you have the cash for
these things or have to pull money out of your investments?

If it is something you want to set money aside for—or reasonably expect to spend—it is worth including in your plan’s budget

4. What tax efficiencies can you leverage?

While this question is important for everyone, it has an even bigger impact for those with complex assets, including business owners since both personal and business taxes will be at play. It often relies on information from other professionals as well—such as an accountant—so you’ll want to discuss with your financial advisor to determine who else you may need to connect with.

5. What do you currently have in place for wills and your estate?

Talking about their final years isn’t easy for anyone, but it’s important to reframe how you think about your golden years. Look at it as an empowerment exercise—this is how together you and your advisor can figure out how to fund not only your retirement, but
also your estate, so that your loved ones are looked after.

While sometimes clients are also embarrassed if they haven’t yet made a will or haven’t updated it, advisors aren’t there to judge. They want to provide sound advice based on the information they have. They’ll talk about what’s been done well and what needs to be
looked after.

6. What insurance coverage do you have?

The biggest challenge with providing information for this question is that a lot of people simply don’t understand the insurance products and coverage they have. You might need to talk to another professional, in this case an insurance advisor, to track down the
information and relay it to your financial advisor.

Providing accurate information, setting aside time for conversations and rounding up required documents is essential for creating a successful financial plan. But it’s also important to remember that your financial plan is not set in stone and will continue to
evolve as your goals and circumstances change over time. Speak with an ATB Wealth advisor to get started.

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