Retirement

Financial Planning Basics: What You Need to Know

By Chris Duderstadt

August 18, 2025

Financial Planning Basics: What You Need to Know

Key Points – Financial Planning Basics: What You Need to Know

  • Prioritizing Financial Education Year Round
  • Learning Some Financial Planning Basics from Our Planning Specialists
  • What Modern Wealth Delivers with Its Advantage Offerings
  • 4-Minute Read

Prioritizing Financial Education Year Round

According to the Council for Economic Education’s 2024 Survey of the States, 35 states require personal finance classes for high school graduation.1 While that is a significant uptick from the CEE’s previous survey in 2022, when 23 states had that requirement, our team believes that all high schools should have personal finance classes.

Taking personal finance classes in high school or college can be helpful with understanding some of the basics of financial planning. But do you remember everything you learned from school? An individual’s financial situation typically gets much more complex as they get closer to retirement. That’s why you need to start planning for retirement roughly 10-15 years before you actually retire.

Ask yourself this. How are you supposed to know how much money you’ll need to get to and through retirement? That answer will be different for everyone and will be dependent on many different factors — starting with your unique goals.

Learning Some Financial Planning Basics from Our Planning Specialists

As students nationwide head back to school this fall, we want to help everyone realize that personal finance should be a lifelong course. However, it isn’t a lifelong course you have to take on your own. At Modern Wealth Management, we approach financial planning like a group project — with the client being the focal point of each project. Along with working with one of our financial advisors, our clients are supported by our team of planning specialists in tax, investments, estate planning, and insurance.

Meet the Teachers

Before each school year begins, some schools host a Meet the Teacher night to give students and their parents a chance to meet the students’ teachers. We thought we would do something similar with a Financial Planning 101 series that features our Director of Tax Corey Hulstein, CPA, Estate Plan Coordinator + Client Specialist Bill Page, Director of Investments Stephen Tuckwood, CFA®, and Director of Financial Planning Angelica Mitchell, CFP®.

Check out the following Q&As with Corey, Bill, Tuck, and Angelica to brush up on the financial planning basics and learn a little bit about Modern Wealth’s Advantage Offerings.

Financial Planning 101 – Tax Planning Basics with Corey Hulstein

It’s important to align your financial plan and tax strategies. Our CPAs and other tax professionals prepare and file annual tax returns for our clients, but much of their focus is on forward-looking tax planning to help reduce taxation over an individual’s lifetime rather than year by year.

Financial Planning 101 – Estate Planning Basics with Bill Page

Speaking of a forward-looking approach, it’s critical to have an estate plan that is up to date and reflects your legacy goals. Having a current estate plan can help bring peace of mind to you and your loved ones.

Financial Planning 101 – Investment Planning Basics with Stephen Tuckwood

The market volatility that we’ve witnessed in 2025 has served as a reminder of how important it is to remain disciplined when investing rather than acting upon the emotions of fear and greed. Our investment management team focuses on building diversified portfolios that contain multiple asset classes combined in a way that fit each individual’s objectives and risk tolerance.

Financial Planning 101 – Insurance Planning Basics with Bill Page

No one purchases an insurance policy with the goal of filing a claim. However, a key component of risk management is having insurance coverage tailored to your specific needs. What insurance do you need to protect yourself and your family from life’s uncertainties?

Financial Planning 101 – Financial Planning Basics with Angelica Mitchell

No financial plan is complete if it isn’t designed around your financial and life goals. It should also consider the other Advantage Offerings that we’ve discussed as well as cash flow and debt management and income planning. It’s also important to understand that the financial planning process is ongoing. That’s why our team holds client review meetings to make sure each individual’s plan is up to date as their life circumstances change.

Delivering You More Than the Financial Planning Basics with the Modern Wealth Advantage

Notice that Corey, Tuck, and Bill mentioned that the tax, investment, estate, and insurance planning Advantage Offerings were all individually important, but that they were all just one piece of the financial planning puzzle. It’s one thing to understand some of these financial planning basics; it’s another to understand how they work together.

That’s why Tuck, Bill, and Corey work alongside Angelica and our advisors to deliver the Modern Wealth Advantage to our clients. It’s important to have each of those subject matter professionals on the same page, collaborating on your behalf to help you toward your objectives.

Whether you have questions about the financial planning basics we’ve covered or you want to learn more about what’s it like to have the Modern Wealth Advantage, start a conversation with our team below.

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Make Sure Your Friends and Family Know the Basics of Financial Planning

While it’s critical to build your financial plan based upon your own goals and circumstances rather than a friend or family member’s situation, consider sharing this article with your friends and family to help them understand the basics of financial planning. Whether you’re still in school or on the cusp of retirement, financial education is crucial at every stage of life. We hope these financial planning basics can help you make more informed financial decisions.

Resources Mentioned in This Article

Other Sources

[1] https://www.councilforeconed.org/financial-education-requirements-soar-in-americas-high-schools/

Investment advisory services offered through Modern Wealth Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser.

The views expressed represent the opinion of Modern Wealth Management a Registered Investment Advisor. Information provided is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. Modern Wealth Management does not accept any liability for the use of the information discussed. Consult with a qualified financial, legal, or tax professional prior to taking any action.