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18W 140 Butterfield Rd., Suite 1500, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

(630) 760-5500
ryangarrity@rwplanners.com
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Financial Planning

Client Centered

If the terms “financial planner” and “investment and portfolio management” seem interchangeable to you, you’re not alone.  Many people, even financial professionals have a hard time differentiating.  To truly maximize your financial well-being, it’s important to understand the difference.  The terms don’t just describe roles and services, they also refer to distinct parts of an integrated financial process.  We believe that after a lifetime of diligence on your part, you deserve a financial plan that is customized to address the major challenges still before you and help ensure your retirement years are one of the best periods of your life.  We provide ongoing financial planning advice through in-office reviews, empowering you to focus your time, energy, and wisdom on the things of your choosing.  

Think about a house.  When you build it from scratch, you need an architect (who creates a detailed blueprint) and a builder (who executes in accordance with the plans.) While their work is intimately connected, the architect and builder are attending to very different, yet equally important parts of the “dream home” process.  

When you build your financial house, “financial planning” is the process of architecting a vision of your financial future.  We help clients define their goals, dreams, desires, and concerns.  During this process, we will ask (and help you answer) essential questions, such as:

  • Am I currently saving enough to meet my retirement goals?
  • Am I making wise choices about the use of debt, setting up college savings plans, tax efficiency, estate planning, and ensuring my insurance needs are taken care of?
  • How much house or car can I afford given my income and assets?
  • When can I retire, and how much can I safely spend each month and not run out of money?
  • When should I start taking Social Security?
  • What accounts should I draw from first to reduce my federal and state tax obligations (cash-flow management.)

When engaged in “investment and portfolio management,” we build on the financial plan that is designed by choosing the specific investments which we will use to construct your portfolio.  When it comes to your financial house, Retirement Wealth Planners can assist in both crafting the architectural plan (“financial planning”) and the actual building of the house (“investment and portfolio management”.)

To get the most out of investment and portfolio management you really need to also be receiving well-thought-out financial planning and advice.  We believe they go hand-in-hand because you can’t make a legitimate investment recommendation until you understand someone’s personal situation.  

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