When to Hire a Financial Advisor for Year-End Planning
If you want answers to important financial questions by year-end, now is the time to engage a financial advisor.
For someone who is new to financial planning, that probably sounds crazy. It’s September!
But every year, I get calls in the first or second week of December from people looking for a financial plan - and hoping to have answers before December 31.
Some advisors can make that happen (and they’re amazing). But many can’t.
Here’s why December is a particularly tough month in the financial planning world:
- First, it’s really only about a three-week work month. Schools close, holiday travel starts, and by December 20th or so, schedules get pretty spotty.
- At the same time, there is a lot of financial planning work that has to happen at year-end. For ongoing clients, we’re confirming RMDs were taken. We’re running Roth conversion analysis. We’re processing QCDs. We’re completing other tax-planning items that lose their usefulness once December 31 passes.
- We’re also wrapping up planning work that carried over from November and dealing with whatever life throws at existing clients. People buy houses in December. They change jobs. They retire. Things happen, and we need to have room to help them.
- Then there’s the business side. Many advisors have annual compliance work and filings due early in the new year. Yes, I have a compliance person. But I still need to block off a few days in December just to review my documents, make updates, and get everything to him in time so he can do his work.
- And, of course, there are holiday parties for every organization anyone in our family has ever joined.
This is why some financial advisors stop taking new planning clients altogether toward the end of the year.
So if you’re wondering:
Can I retire next year?
Should I do a Roth conversion?
Can we afford this house?
What should I do with my stock options?
Am I doing everything I should before year-end?
September or October is a much better time to start that conversation than December.
Linda Rogers, CFP®, EA, MSBAis the owner and founder of Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR). Originally from New Jersey, Linda services clients throughout San Diego county and nationwide. She leads the design of PWR's investment portfolios which utilize broad, low-cost investments that integrate environmentally, socially, and governance (ESG) factors.
Planning Within Reach, LLC (PWR) is afee-only and fiduciary wealth management firmoffering one-time comprehensive financial planning, ongoing impact-focused investment management and tax preparation services in San Diego and nationwide. PWR is a woman-owned firm that specializes in busy professionals and impact investors. Planning Within Reach, LLC and their advisors do not receive commissions and do not hold any insurance licenses or brokerage relationships.