The twin goals of portfolio growth and income generation are central to achieving one’s investment objectives. Our clients want to understand how their portfolio performance will translate into the lifestyle they want in retirement and the legacy they hope to leave for their family or charitable organizations beyond. Financial planning is about answering the question “will I have enough” so that you can move forward with the confidence to make informed financial decisions without constantly worrying about the many “what ifs” that may follow – because you have a plan.
From Your First Meeting to Ongoing Support
At American Money Management (AMM), we believe that financial planning isn’t a one-time event. It’s a living, evolving process that should adapt to your life. Whether you’re preparing for retirement, navigating a major life change, or simply want to feel more organized and confident about your financial future, our planning process is designed to meet you where you are and guide you with clarity, care, and expertise.
Here’s what working with our team looks like, step by step.
Step 1: Getting Started with the Right Tools
Your planning journey begins with a conversation. During this initial phase, AMM will introduce the financial planning process and provide you with two options. One is a short-form financial plan designed to provide an analysis and summary of key objectives. The other option available to our clients is a more comprehensive plan where you are provided with a workbook to complete and return. This workbook helps organize the information we’ll use to build your comprehensive plan; things like income, expenses, assets, goals, tax considerations, and key documents.
To make things easy, one of our qualified financial planning professionals will schedule a 15–30 minute Zoom call with you to walk through the process options. They’ll answer any questions and explain what supporting documents to gather (such as pay stubs, mortgage or pension statements, and Social Security benefit estimates). You’ll be able to upload everything securely through your AMM client portal.
Step 2: Budget & Goal Review (1-Hour Zoom)
Once we’ve received your workbook and documents, we’ll schedule a one-hour Zoom meeting to walk through your budget, income, and financial goals. This meeting focuses entirely on understanding your current cash flow, spending priorities, and any major future plans.
Behind the scenes, AMM builds a detailed Excel version of your budget and inputs all relevant information into our financial planning software. This allows us to validate that the numbers make sense and that nothing critical is missing. After this meeting, we’ll send you a follow-up email summarizing your plan inputs along with a copy of your budget for review.
Step 3: Plan Review & “What-If” Scenarios
Next, we’ll meet again to walk through your full financial plan from start to finish. This is where your income, spending, savings, investments, goals, and timing all come together to formulate your financial plan. We’ll look at how things are projected to unfold over time and use interactive “what-if” scenarios to explore questions like:
- What if you retired earlier?
- What if you increased your travel budget?
- What if you downsized your home?
Our financial planning software uses Monte Carlo simulations to stress-test your plan and calculate the probability of success, i.e. showing you how likely it is that your resources will last through retirement based on thousands of potential market outcomes. This helps us build flexibility into your plan so that it reflects your life, not just the numbers.
After this meeting, you’ll receive a clean, finalized version of your financial plan report along with a summary email. We’ll also outline the next steps and show you how your plan can be kept up to date over time.
Step 4: Investment Selection, Implementation & Monitoring
A financial plan is only as strong as the investment strategy supporting it. At AMM, we do not use cookie-cutter portfolios or one-size-fits-all solutions. Every client’s portfolio is thoughtfully constructed to reflect their unique financial plan, time horizon, risk tolerance, and personal objectives.
We believe that investment management and financial planning are two sides of the same coin, and therefore, we intentionally marry the two to help you achieve your short, intermediate, and long-term goals. Once your plan is in place, we implement an investment strategy that’s designed to support it directly, using a combination of:
- Dividend Growth Strategy – Designed to invest in high-quality companies that generate strong excess cash flow and demonstrate a consistent track record of increasing their dividends, reflecting both financial strength and a long-term commitment to shareholders.
- GARP (Growth at a Reasonable Price) Strategy – Targeting companies with strong earnings potential purchased at attractive valuations.
- Asset Allocation Strategies – Focused on building globally diversified portfolios using low-cost ETFs that provide broad exposure to leading US and international companies.
- Income Strategy – Structured to generate reliable cash flow for clients focused on income, often including tax-free municipals, Treasury bills, and Money Market Mutual Funds.
- Alternative Investments – For accredited investors, we offer access to private investments that can enhance current cash flow. These include short-term mortgage financing and asset-based lending to provide diversification beyond traditional markets.
Each portfolio is closely monitored and rebalanced as needed, with an emphasis on tax efficiency and risk management. Our team stays in contact with you to explain what you own, why you own it, and how it fits into the bigger picture (your financial plan).
Step 5: Ongoing Updates and Support
A good plan only works if it stays relevant. That’s why AMM checks in with clients annually to review your plan and make any needed updates. Whether your income changes, you buy a new property, update your estate plan, or welcome a new grandchild, we’re here to keep your financial picture aligned with your evolving life.
Your plan update includes a fresh review of your assumptions, updated financial data, and time for discussion during a 1–1.5 hour Zoom meeting. Afterward, we’ll send you an updated plan report so you always know where you stand.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re interested in starting your own financial plan, or updating an existing one, we’re here to help. Contact us today. Let’s build a plan that works for you.
