Checklist for Your First Visit With a Financial Planner

Provide copies of your financial statements—including those from your banks, brokerage firms and retirement account custodians—and your tax documents.

Be prepared to talk about your income, regular expenses and monthly cash flow.

Provide a summary of your debt—including your mortgage, credit cards, student loans, car loans and other debt—and the interest rates and terms on the loans.

Provide your insurance and estate-planning documents. Prepare to talk about your financial risks and how they are or aren’t currently covered.

Start thinking about your short-term and long-term goals. Do you want to buy a house in the next few years? Are you saving for your kids’ college? When would you like to retire? Your CFP® professional can help you prioritize your financial goals.

Make a list of questions to ask your CFP® professional. You can talk about the areas of your finances that worry you the most, or how to help protect yourself from various risks, such as market volatility or loss of income. You can also work with your CFP® professional to run numbers for different scenarios that you’re considering, such as moving to a less-expensive area or shifting to part-time work before retiring completely. This is your opportunity to find out about the feasibility of all of the things you’ve been thinking about for your finances and your life goals.