Hourly financial planner - Nashua Manchester NH - New Means Financial Planning

Career change in the works?

This blog's for you!

You know you need professional advice on your personal finances, but just exactly what kind of help is right for you? The table below uses terms from bike racing -- New Means founder Sherrill St. Germain is a huge fan -- to help you figure it out. Services can be mixed and matched, or purchased separately.

HINT on using the table: Read down the "Who's it for?" column until you find 1 or more descriptions that fit you. Services are organized more or less in chronological order of stage of life. Therefore, those just getting started are likely to find what they need near the beginning of the table, whereas services for pre-retirees and retirees, as well as custom services, are closer to the end.

(For more on the parallels between financial planning and bike racing, check out the article It's Just Like Riding a Bike.)

Service	Who's it for?
Prologue – How do I get my financial life off to a good start?	20- and early 30-somethings
Safety Check – How much life/other insurance do I need?	Anyone looking to protect their assets
Tour de 401k – How do I allocate my 401k, 403b, etc., holdings and contributions?	Investors looking for advice on company-sponsored plan
Portfolio Bootcamp – How do I allocate my portfolio and ongoing savings?	Investors looking to revamp an out-of-control portfolio
The Home Stretch – How much house should I buy?	Home buyers, especially first-timers
Breaking Away – How do I change careers to one with less income & benefits... at least for a while?	Career changers
Bridging the Gap – How do I pay for college?	Parents (& others) paying for college
Sprint to the Line – I'm planning to retire in the not-too-distant future. How do I ensure I'll be ready?	Pre-retirees
Going the Distance – How do I make my money last as long as I need it?	Retirees
Grand Tour – I'd like to make sure I'm on track with respect to all aspects of my financial life.	Anyone seeking a comprehensive financial review
Coaching – I'd prefer to work piecemeal. Can we sit down once a week/month/quarter for an "in-person" planning session?	Anyone needing advice & support on an ongoing basis
Your Own Course – I'd like help with personal financial questions that don't exactly map to your service offerings.	Anyone with custom personal financial planning needs
(Looking for advice on consolidating debt? We recommend you contact the specialists at GreenPath Debt Solutions (formerly Consumer Credit Counseling Service of NH & VT). Resident of another state? Visit the National Foundation for Credit Counseling to find a local provider.)

Contact us to discuss your financial planning needs or to schedule your no-cost, no-obligation Get Acquainted Meeting today!

Prologue

In bike racing, the Prologue is the introductory race-against-the-clock that kicks off a multi-day stage race, such as the Tour de France. How the riders perform here gives some insight into how they'll perform over the long haul. In financial planning, where time is money, getting an early start and heading in the right direction dramatically increases the chances you'll meet your financial goals.

Question(s) Addressed	How do I get my financial life off to a good start?
Who's it for?	20- and early 30-somethings
Areas Reviewed	Cash flow, debt, insurance, investing, savings rate
Typical Fee	$800 - $1000

Safety Check

Before a racer goes out on the bike, the team's bike mechanic performs a safety check of equipment to make sure the rider is not taking any unnecessary risk. In financial planning, obtaining adequate insurance coverage is an important element of managing risk.

Question(s) Addressed	How much life/other insurance do I need?
Who's it for?	Anyone looking to protect their assets
Areas Reviewed	Insurance
Typical Fee	$600 - $1000

Tour de 401k

In bike racing, a "tour" is a multi-day stage race, like the Tour de France, that visits a new location every day, covering hills, flats, mountains, cobblestones, etc., in whatever weather conditions Mother Nature supplies. With the "Tour de 401k" service, we'll take a tour of your company-sponsored retirement plan, with an eye toward selecting the combination of investments that will allow you to weather the various economic conditions you'll likely see between now and retirement.

Question(s) Addressed	How do I allocate my 401k, 403b, etc., holdings and contributions?
Who's it for?	Investors looking for advice on their company-sponsored plan only NOTE: The Portfolio Bootcamp is designed for investors whose retirement assets include more than a company-sponsored plan. (i.e. In addition to your current company plan, you also have 1 or more old 401k's, Roth, traditional, and/or Rollover IRAs, brokerage accounts, annuities, etc.)
Areas Reviewed	Investments
Typical Fee	$400 - $800 per plan

Portfolio Bootcamp

In recent years, some bike racing teams have instituted pre-season "bootcamps" to provide team members with the extra-intensive physical and mental training they need to make the transition from the off-season to racing season.

Similarly, this "Portfolio Bootcamp" aims to whip your portfolio into shape. In this age of frequent job changes and multiple types of accounts for multiple goals (retirement, college, etc.), it's not uncommon for a portfolio to end up "bloated" with too many accounts and investments, and no clear objective. This in-depth review will keep your portfolio in tiptop condition, on track to meet your goals.

Question(s) Addressed	How do I invest my portfolio and ongoing savings?
Who's it for?	Investors looking to revamp an out-of-control portfolio
Areas Reviewed	Investments
Typical Fee	$1000 - $2200

The Home Stretch

In bike racing, the home stretch is the straightaway on which racers expend their last bits of energy in their attempt to reach the finish line first. Home buyers today may similarly overextended, with high home prices, increasing interest rates, and competing goals making the great American dream of home ownership quite a stretch for many. "The Home Stretch" helps you determine NOT the maximum mortgage a bank will lend you, but how much house you can reasonably afford without sacrificing all your other financial priorities.

Question(s) Addressed	How much house should I purchase?
Who's it for?	Home buyers, especially first-timers
Areas Reviewed	Cash flow, debt
Typical Fee	$600 - $800

Breaking Away

In bike racing, one of the hardest things to do is to "break away" from a pack of riders, because the pack is dramatically more efficient than a solo rider in terms of combating wind resistance. To break away requires a racer to marshal significant stores of energy to overcome these very powerful forces working to keep the pack together. Nonetheless, riders succeed on a fairly regular basis, and sometimes end up winning the race as a result.

So it is with our work lives. Once settled into a particular job or career, and accustomed to a certain level of income and benefits, it can be extraordinarily difficult to "break away" no matter how unsatisfying the role or how vivid the dreams of alternative paths. This service answers the questions "What would it take, financially, to make such a career change happen?"

Question(s) Addressed	How do I change careers to one with less income/benefits... at least for a while?
Who's it for?	Career changers
Areas Reviewed	Cash flow, debt, investing
Typical Fee	$1200 - $2400

Contact us to schedule your no-cost, no-obligation Get Acquainted Meeting to get started today! Or visit our blog, The Career Change Financial Planner, for more on financial planning for career change.

Bridging the Gap

In bike racing, if a racer "bridges the gap," it means he or she has managed to "break away" from the main pack of riders and connect up with another, typically smaller, group of riders in the lead. Usually, that rider has to put in a Herculean effort to make this happen.

"Herculean effort" probably describes what most parents today believe is required to pay for college. And with college costs continuing to increase at a rate higher than inflation, these concerns are certainly valid. With the "Bridging the Gap" service, we identify your best options for affording college when the time comes, whether that's 18 years from now or next month.

Question(s) Addressed	How do I pay for college?
Who's it for?	Parents (or others) planning for college
Areas Reviewed	Cash flow, debt, investing
Typical Fee	$1000 - $1400

Sprint to the Line

In certain types of bike races, it is not uncommon for all the riders to remain in one very large pack throughout the entire race. Due to the nature of the race, riders know it is unlikely that they will be able to pull ahead and stay ahead for long, so they don't try too hard... until the end. These races almost always end in a crazy mad dash to the finish line. Sometimes crashes result, but many riders manage to cross the line in an upright position and, of course, one wins.

While it's true that much of retirement planning is best done well in advance of retirement, it's also true that there may be opportunities to enhance the chances that you will have enough money to retire even as the date nears. With the "Sprint to the Line" service, we'll take a look at how well-positioned you are for retiring in the target timeframe, and what additional actions you can take to be better prepared.

Question(s) Addressed	I'm planning to retire in the not-too-distant future. How do I ensure I'll be ready?
Who's it for?	Pre-retirees
Areas Reviewed	Retirement planning
Typical Fee	$1200 - $2000

Going the Distance

Even in bike races that are best suited to sprinters, if a racer doesn't have a certain amount of endurance built up, he or she is not going to stay in the race long enough to contest the final sprint.

With financial planning, it's your money that needs to last a very long time. With this service, we'll review your sources for income in retirement, determine safe withdrawal rates, analyze income tax implications, and identify which sources to tap when and in what amounts so as to make your money go the distance.

Question(s) Addressed	How do I make my money last as long as I need it?
Who's it for?	Retirees
Areas Reviewed	Retirement planning
Typical Fee	$1000 - $1800

Grand Tour

As discussed elsewhere in this Services section, a tour is a multi-day bike race. A Grand Tour is one of 3 longer tours -- each one lasting 3 weeks -- hosted by France, Italy, and Spain each year. As you might imagine, these races afford the riders a close look at the host country, as they travel as much as 2,500 miles per Grand Tour.

With the "Grand Tour" service, our goal is to take a comprehensive look at all aspects of your personal financial plan, identify any opportunities, challenges, risks, holes in your current plan, etc., and get you on track to meet your goals for building, preserving, and/or transferring wealth to the next generation.

Question(s) Addressed	I'd like to make sure I'm on track with respect to all areas of my financial life.
Who's it for?	Anyone seeking a comprehensive financial review
Areas Reviewed	Cash flow, debt, insurance, saving, investments, retirement planning, college planning, estate planning, more.
Typical Fee	$2200 - $4400

Coaching

In addition to their team managers and teammates, bike racers frequently turn to coaches for ongoing advice, support, perspective, motivation, accountability, and insight. This Coaching service seeks to provide the same kind of support to you in your efforts to reach your financial planning goals.

Question(s) Addressed	I'd like to discuss my most pressing personal finance issues in weekly, monthly, or quarterly "in person" sessions, with between session preparation as necessary.
Who's it for?	Anyone needing advice and support on an ongoing basis
Areas Reviewed	Can include cash flow, debt, insurance, saving, investments, retirement planning, college planning, estate planning, more.
Typical Fee	$200 per hour

Your Own Course

Bike racers aren't allowed to chart their own race course. In this regard, New Means Financial Planning is different. If you have questions/issues that fall outside the services described here, please give us a call. We may be able to help!

Question(s) Addressed	I'd like advice on personal financial questions that don't exactly map to your service offerings. Can you help me?
Who's it for?	Anyone with custom personal financial planning needs
Areas Reviewed	Can include cash flow, debt, insurance, saving, investments, retirement planning, college planning, estate planning, more.
Typical Fee	Depends on number of hours required to complete requested work and hourly rate of $200



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