These fact finders were initially created in 1988. Since then, they've evolved via thousands of financial planning and investment management clients. A non-financial survey or seminar company that makes forms for other types of businesses did not create them.

These are the only financial plan fact finders that have evolved in the do-or-die world that you live and work in. So if you're shopping, see if the vendor is selling other types of fact finders for other types of businesses. If they are, then you'll be getting generic financial tools made by people without any financial planning experience, and that have never met a real client. They just won't do the jobs.

Fact finding, also called discovery, is the heart of the financial planning process. So every financial professional should have them. They will save you massive amounts of time, grief, and will help you make lots of money. Quit fumbling around and wasting years editing old fragmented fact finders. This is the end result of what you've been working toward.

For every financial plan software module available for sale (see the green right-hand column), there is a corresponding fact finder to collect input data from clients.

If you're just starting out in the business, these discovery tools will help save your life. Get a jump on your competition and make it look like you've been doing this for decades. They will impress your clients immediately, sometimes before they ever meet you in person. This will help set the stage for a great long-term relationship.

They are refined continually to qualify prospects, and to get all of the important input information needed by basic to comprehensive financial planning and investment management software. So if you're writing comprehensive plans using other financial planning software (like NaviPlan), then these will make things a lot easier, and will help collect important information that theirs don't.

As you know, even people with money can be nutty. These data collection sheets are also great for staying out of trouble and keeping compliance happy. This is because you'll always have what clients told you they wanted on file: Goals, objectives, constraints, investment and insurance suitability, and investment risk tolerance. So when they have an episode, you can easily set them straight before it escalates to the Broker Dealer/FINRA/SEC level.

Just having completed fact finders (and an Investment Policy Statement) in place before trouble hits just once, can save you hundreds of times what they cost. Not to mention the non-financial grief and FINRA risks of dealing with a crazy client that forgot what they hired you for.

The Financial Plan Fact Finders Come in Three Parts to Facilitate the Process

The first part of the process is gathering mostly "generic" information that people already know the answers to. Here there are two choices which gather the same data.

Choice one in the first phase of fact finding: Fact Finder Part I is 17 pages, and is usually given in-person as homework, postal mailed or e-mailed to the prospect after they have been screened by the first phone call. This will save you tons of time, especially if you decide not to bring them on board.

It's easy for them to fill out and return (using a pre-stamped return envelope), as it doesn't ask technical financial planning questions. But, it does get them to answer many screening questions to qualify them to be one of your new clients. It has:

· A generic and detailed personal information section.

· A complete family information section.

· A section so you can learn about their current advisors (and why they hired and fired so many in the past - this is a big tip off that they may be nutty!).

· A masterpiece investment risk tolerance questionnaire section that also serves as input to asset allocation and investment management software.

It gathers everything you'll need to know to manage someone's money, from low- to high-net worth. It has a total of 32 investment suitability questions. 22 are weighted and scored in the risk tolerance category calculating matrix. Feedback from many clients has shown that they like the option of being able to calculate their own investment risk tolerance, and seeing which of the five most commonly used risk categories they fall into.

· It has them fill out Investment Policy Statement input data for you.

· A section where they tell exactly what they want you to do for them.

· Screening questions that may tip you off if they're nutty or prone to causing you trouble.

· An asset summary page for a quick snapshot of what prospects have to work with, so you won't spend time with people with insufficient assets. If and when they qualify for your services, you'd then use Fact Finder Part III to collect detailed asset data.

· A pre-mailing or appointment checklist to make sure they send or bring all of the documents you'll need to do the work.

Choice two in the first phase of fact finding: The 29-page In-Person Fact Finder is for conducting face-to-face interviews.

It has more emotional and subjective questions, as well as all of the usual objective questions. It also has a lot more space on the right side to write on (you basically ask how they feel about things, and then write the answers down on the right-hand column). It's best used when the financial planner has already decided to spend time on the prospect.

Learn how your clients feel in addition to how they think and what they have. This is very important for building long-term trust-based relationships.

It doesn't have any of the arcane technical data, so you'll still have to use Fact Finder Part II for that.

· Emotional and subjective questions: Visions, values, goals, expectations, and timelines.

· Lots more room for note taking.

· Inheritances and estate planning fact finder.

· Risk management and insurance fact finder.

· Non-detailed asset summary for prospect qualification.

Financial Planning Fact Finding: Phase II:

After data in Fact Finder Part I is reviewed, 21-page Fact Finder Part II is used for the second phase. This is gathering the data needed for input into financial plan software.

· Incomes and Expenses: A detailed cash flow section for use as inputs into comprehensive/integrated budgeting software. If someone wants to do a budget, or forecast their incomes and expenses, just print these pages, fact find, and you'll be their hero minutes after you run the numbers.

· Comprehensive college planning, and college assets fact finder.

· Insurance planning sections that cover every type of insurance. This part also keeps you out of compliance and E&O trouble. The comprehensive life insurance section allows you to estimate the correct amounts easily without the use of capital-needs software. They can do it themselves, or you can do it right in front of them so they'll believe you.

· An estate planning section.

· And of course, a comprehensive retirement planning section.

Financial Planning Fact Finding: Phase III:

Fact Finder Part III is a 19-page Asset Fact Finder.

After gathering their personal information, data needed for input into financial planning software, an understanding of what assets they currently have and will have in the future, what their goals are; then you have everything needed to manage their money and forecast their financial future with financial plan software.

All three parts have lots of emotional, subjective, questions as well as all of the usual objective questions. Learn how your clients feel in addition to how they think and what they have. This is very important!

The Existing Client Fact Finder is for use when updating existing client's investment and retirement planning information (for use with Real World Retirement and most other retirement programs). It also refreshes investment risk tolerance to see if their life changed enough to warrant changes in their investment portfolio.

The Business Fact Finder has questions regarding a small business: General info, stock issues, history, related businesses, other advisor contacts info, valuation, exit strategies, document inventory, employee benefits, employee/key people census.

Why aren't you taking advantage of this? Send e-mail and if you have an interesting reason, then you may get a freebie.

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