Financial Plan Worksheets
The cornerstone of the financial plan is the financial plan worksheet, typically an electronic spreadsheet that houses all the critical information on expenses, income and goals. There are numerous examples of these available on the web, and a quick Google search will yield a number of different free or low-cost alternatives.
When evaluating which financial plan worksheet is best-suited to your needs, there are few considerations to weigh. First, any financial plan needs to be modified to your specific needs. A template for the worksheet will be a good start, but you should expect to customize the plan, and the worksheet, to your needs.
That said, there are a few common features to look for in a financial plan worksheet, including:
Current and future expenses: This should include all expenses known and anticipated in the future. Note: expenses are different than goals (for example, an education fund for your children).
Goals: This should include all the major goals, the estimated cost of achieving those goals, the number of months required to achieve the financial requirement of the goal. Also include the source of funding for these goals (for example, paid for with savings from salary, investment gain, etc).
Risks: This should include a list of risks that can affect both your lifestyle and your future financial health (such as the loss of a job).
Income: This should include your current and future anticipated income (along with when you plan to achieve that level of income). Include both salary/wages, investment and another form of income.
The above are the basics of a good financial planning worksheet. More sophisticated versions will include spreadsheet pages that are linked, so that changes in situations or in assumptions will flow through the entire workbook and update automatically. Your use of these tools might depend on your comfort level with the software tool, and might also depend on where you are in your financial planning cycle (the simpler tools might fit your needs better in the beginning).
Whatever the case, take the time to research some of these free tools for putting the ‘plans to the page.’