Milestone planning helps clients and advisers

Updated January 10, 2024 

Financial advisers often start with goal-based planning: what the client wants to accomplish. This is just a start, though. This goal-based aspect of planning is lost along the way as the focus becomes more tactical in nature.  

Milestone planning can be beneficial in keeping the focus squarely on the client’s goals. 

In this article, we will break down what milestone planning is. We will look at common milestone planning projects and the benefits of milestone planning—plus more. 

Here is everything you need to know.  

What is milestone planning? 

Milestone planning is a significant part of many project management and planning teams. The idea is that you project what you’re supposed to achieve by a preset date. As you pass milestones, you can review whether or not your plan is on track. 

Not only does the process give the planner the ability to evaluate the plan’s performance, it also can provide a good history of the project when it is complete. Because milestone planning focuses on the most visible, important and easily identifiable events, it allows focus and planning to develop around them. 

It’s easy to see how these project management themes can be incorporated into the financial planning process. The top financial Google searches, for example, revolve around guidance for milestone events. These include how to pay off a student loan, what is a 401(k), how do car loans work, and how to buy a house.  

Many clients experience a similar need for guidance toward past milestones. For instance, young clients go through significant life events such as starting a new job, getting married, having children, and buying a house. 

Once a client is a bit further into their work career, they might need an adviser’s help with starting a business, saving for children’s college funding or deciding when to retire. Retirement clients also will have milestones like relocation, long-term-care needs and end-of-life planning. 

Many milestones in life are brought on by the client’s own life goals, like marriage, having children and starting a business. But other milestones will be brought on by loved ones, like children going to college or getting married. Other major life events are driven by tragic situations, like the loss of one’s parents or spouse. These major life events will have a huge impact on the client’s lifestyle and financial situation. 

What are common examples of milestone planning? 

As mentioned, milestone planning is a key facet in investment. Milestones usually reflect critical moments of an investment’s lifecycle. They indicate to you, your team, and other stakeholders where you are in the grand scheme of things and how close you are to completing a project.  

With that in mind, let’s look at some common examples of milestone planning. 

Getting stakeholder approval 

You must have approval and buy-in from stakeholders. Otherwise, your financial planning will never get off the ground. This is why gaining approval from all stakeholders is typically the first milestone. The rest of the investment life cycle depends on it. 

Keeping clients in the loop 

Most clients want to be kept in the loop. Milestone planning is a great way to make that happen. Let’s say your team is creating software for a customer. Every time you finish a major deliverable, such as implementing a new feature, you should inform the customer and demonstrate the new functionality.  

Finishing a critical task 

Not every task needs to be attached to a milestone. However, tasks that are critical to the completion of a project usually are.

Reaching the end of the project 

Milestone planning is obviously designed to keep your team accountable and on track. And you need to know where you are going. This is why the natural end to your milestone planning is the end date of your project or investment. Checking in at each milestone along the way is the best way to know if you are on schedule to reach that final deadline.  

Why are milestones important in planning?

Milestone planning is important because it simplifies the process, which in turn makes life easier for everyone.  

In fact, there are many benefits. Let’s look at six ways that milestones are important in financial planning.  

1. Help to monitor deadlines 

2. Identify potential snags 

3. Raise visibility/accountability 

4. Allocate time and resources 

5. Keeps stakeholders in the loop 

6. Quantify completion/success 

Now, let’s take a closer look at each.  

1. Help to monitor deadlines 

It can be difficult to monitor the progress of a financial plan. Deadlines have a knack for creeping up on you and putting you behind schedule. Milestone planning can help your financial planner and other team members to monitor deadlines. As a result, you can stay on schedule. 

2. Identify potential snags 

Snags have derailed far too many financial projects. Before a project can be carried forward, certain tasks need to be completed. If you do not identify those tasks beforehand, your financial plan will likely fall behind schedule. As a result, this will also likely push the project over budget. And who wants that? Therefore, ensure that you consider potential snags and use them in your milestone planning. 

3. Raise visibility/accountability 

One way to ensure everyone is in the loop is to set clear milestones. This helps to track the team’s progress on a visible and accessible platform. Raising visibility and accountability helps team members and stakeholders easily see where the project stands.  

It also clearly indicates what more, if anything, needs to be done. When a team member knows what is left to do, they can be held accountable.  

4. Allocate time and resources 

While it might sound trivial, project planning can help financial planners and project leaders allocate time and resources to appropriate aspects of the project. 

5. Keeps stakeholders in the loop

To involve stakeholders in every step of the financial project would be a waste of time. However, stakeholders should be looped in at pivotal moments in the project’s lifecycle. This is where milestone planning comes in. They help you plan when to loop stakeholders into the process.  

6. Quantify completion/success 

Larger financial plans, investments, and projects can get tough and put a strain on morale. Seeing the endline created by milestone planning will give your team a sense of accomplishment. This will help keep their spirits up along the way.

Milestone planning: What to keep in mind 

Research has shown that clients who spend more time thinking about future goals and events are more likely to feel a connection to their future self. Therefore, they are more likely to follow through on savings goals for the future. 

By planning around milestones in a person’s life, an adviser is given the opportunity to discuss both what the client wants to happen and some of the external risks involved. While the timing of these risk events is unknown, they will occur. People pass away, retirement happens, sickness happens. We need to be prepared for external changes that’ll affect our financial plan. 

Milestone planning helps companies around the world accomplish big goals every day. Why shouldn’t it be the same for financial advisers? Take a page from project management and consider focusing on milestone planning. 

To find out more about milestone planning, get in touch with one of the financial advisors that we highlight in our Awards & Recognition section. Here you will find the top-performing financial advisors across the USA.     

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