The most expensive financial advice is the advice you never got.
Most advice stops at the portfolio. Your taxes get filed but not planned, and your will has not moved since you signed it. Score your advice to see what else nobody is watching.
Score my advice →No contact required to see your score. Your answers are scored on your device. About 10 minutes, and no products sold.
Already have an advisor you like? Good. This is the list to bring to your next meeting.
12 areas · about 10 minutes · free · no account
Gaps do not announce themselves
A retired couple files their taxes on time, every year. Nobody mentions that the years between retiring and taking Social Security were the cheapest years they will ever have to move money out of their retirement accounts. The window closes. The tax bill that follows was avoidable, and nobody is ever billed for it.
The same pattern is everywhere: the umbrella policy nobody has sized against what you own now, and the will signed before your youngest was born.
You cannot audit this yourself, because the whole problem is not knowing which questions were never asked. The assessment asks every one of them, and shows you which ones have never had an answer.
The 12 things we look at
The same areas a certified financial planner is trained to cover. You get a score in each one that applies to you.
- 01Planning processHow your advisor works with you, and whether anyone follows up.
- 02Cash flow and debtWhat comes in, what goes out, and what it costs you to owe.
- 03Education fundingWhat school will cost, and who is expected to pay for it.
- 04Insurance coverageWhat you are covered for, and for how much.
- 05Investment strategyWhat you own, why you own it, and what it costs to hold.
- 06Tax planningWhether anyone plans your taxes, or only files them.
- 07Retirement incomeWhich account pays you first, and what that costs in tax.
- 08Estate documentsWhether the papers exist, and whether they are signed.
- 09Business planningWhat happens to the business if you step away tomorrow.
- 10Employee benefitsWhether the benefits you already pay for are doing any work.
- 11Money behaviorThe habits and pressures that steer your money decisions.
- 12Special situationsThe events that fit no checklist, planned before they arrive.
What your report looks like
Grade D · Incomplete
Half of this money is being watched by someone. The other half is not. A low score is a to-do list, not a verdict.
No will anyone can find, no healthcare proxy, and a beneficiary form from two jobs ago.
A pile of accounts, but no plan for which one pays you first or what that order costs in tax.
Returns get filed on time. Nobody has looked at next year while it can still be changed.
Life insurance from a decade ago, sized to a salary you no longer earn.
The one area with real attention: a written strategy, reviewed on a schedule.
Sorted worst first, exactly like your real report. Shown here with sample answers; your report covers every area that applies to you and names what is missing in each one.
What actually happens
- 01
Answer the questions
Questions about what your advice covers, about 10 minutes. If you do not know an answer, that is itself a finding, and it is scored as one.
- 02
Read your score
A number out of 100, a grade in words, and your areas ranked worst first, so the top of the list is your next conversation. Scoring runs in your browser, so you see the result without giving anyone your email.
- 03
Take the list to your advisor
Your results name what is missing in each area. Bring the list to your next meeting, and watch what gets an answer.
How the score is calculated
Every question belongs to one of the 12 areas, and areas that do not apply to you are excluded rather than counted against you. The scoring runs entirely in your browser, and a score you cannot audit is a marketing number, so the method is published.
Naming the areas after the planning curriculum describes how the scoring is organized. It is not an endorsement by the CFP Board.
Read the scoring methodFind out what nobody has asked you about.
Score my advice →Free. No account. No products sold, and no access to your accounts. Your answers stay on your device unless you choose to share the report.