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  1. Family Finance

How to Get Financial Planning for Free (or Cheap)

By:
Celeste Revelli, CFP
9 min read
- Money; Getty Images
Money; Getty Images

Hiring a financial planner can help you set both short-term and long-term goals for your monetary life, and set out strategies to achieve them. But the cost of a comprehensive financial plan starts in the hundreds of dollars, which is beyond the reach of many people. Fortunately, some financial planners provide certain clients with services at lower cost, including on a pro bono basis – that is, for free.

The barriers to getting professional planning go beyond paying the required fees. Many planners require new clients to have a minimum level of assets, sometimes of $1,000,000 or more. And people new to these financial professionals are often unsure of how best to find a compatible, trustworthy planner.

If you’re a person who might benefit from pro bono financial planning, or know someone who is, read on for more on how these programs work and how you can sign up for them. We also cover options for those who may make too much to qualify for fully pro bono financial planning services, such as ways to get planning at lower cost and education that can support your financial journey.

Who offers pro bono financial plans

Fortunately, a host of financial planners volunteer their time and planning prowess to help people in need of a financial roadmap. Nearly two-thirds of the professionals who completed the questionnaire for our best financial planners project said they did some pro bono work – and the proportion was higher still among the 80 planners who made our list.

The term pro bono – and the idea of such free services – is often associated with the legal profession. A majority – if just - of lawyers offer pro bono services, according to a recent survey of 47,000 lawyers in 24 states.

Under pro bono planning programs, the planner or company sets aside a certain proportion of their time to serve people who otherwise could not afford to commission a financial plan. The motivation is to help ensure that such services aren't confined only to affluent individuals. (The volunteer planners can also benefit, through becoming more well-rounded professionals by assisting with financial situations and challenges they might not encounter with paid clients.)

Who qualifies for pro bono planning

Pro bono financial planning is available mostly to populations who haven't traditionally had access to such services. For example, the Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP), which specializes in facilitating pro bono work, says most of the pro bono planning it arranges caters to clients the foundation classifies as underserved.

The FFP describes that group as including low-income individuals and families. While the foundation does not specify a definition for such a classification, nonprofit organizations who provide pro bono services often use the benchmark used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That agency considers people who are making less than 80% of the median income in the area they live to be low-income.

Some pro bono programs serve populations with less regard – at least formally – for income or financial need. Examples are initiatives aimed at military personnel/veterans, domestic violence survivors, people affected by natural disasters and those who have suffered financially from a serious medical crisis.

What to expect from a pro bono financial plan

Pro bono financial planning involves of the same steps involved with hiring a paid planner to prepare a plan. After signing the letter of engagement, you’ll need to share documentation and meet for an initial consultation to discuss your financial situation and goals. Then, after an agreed time, you’ll receive the plan itself and probably also have an opportunity to address your questions about it.

A pro bono financial plan doesn’t provide the full scope of a paid one. The plan you’ll get is a one-time document, and it’s unlikely the planner will propose ongoing monitoring and adjustment to it as needed – as is often the case if you hire a planner.

Also, those who pay for plans may arrange (at extra cost, typically) to have a planner you pay actually carry out some or all of the proposed plan on your behalf. That ongoing service will not be part of a pro bono arrangement. Rather, you should think of a pro bono financial planning engagement as a way to organize a plan of action and direction together with the financial planner, rather than organize and implement it.

How to apply for pro bono financial planning

If you think you qualify for pro bono planning, and want to engage a planner, a good first stop may be a non-profit organization. Certain groups connect financial planners to the pro bono programs and the community, offering them resources to use for various topics and needs, as well as professional insurance. Some financial planning firms also have dedicated pro bono programs as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives. Lastly, local community centers and non-profits often partner with financial planners to provide these services.

A good first stop is the Financial Planning Association (FPA), a leading group of financial planners. The association coordinates pro bono services through its many regional chapters, and the pro bono page on its website also details other resources that can help. However, there’s no guarantee one of these FPA volunteers will be available to assist, since demand for pro bono services usually outstrips the supply of available planners.

If they do, the FPA planner will ask you to complete a letter of engagement that outlines what is entailed in the pro bono relationship and the expectations of all parties. Both the planner and the client sign an agreement to ensure the service is purely educational and objective, not commercial or sales-driven.

Other Low-Cost Planning Alternatives

If you aren’t successful in getting pro bono planning, or if you’re accepted but face a long wait time, there are other options. Some planners have a sliding scale, geared to income, for their fees. Ask planners you’re considering such fee arrangements, which might suit you if the full cost for a plan is more than you can manage but you could afford to pay something for a plan.

There are also community-based programs. These may not provide the scope you’ll get from a comprehensive financial plan, but they do allow you to get expert advice, generally through a less formal process.

Try an online search for free financial literacy workshops offered by community centers, libraries and other non-profit groups; these may feature a lecture, 1:1 consultation or both. If debt is among the issues you face, non-profit credit counseling agencies provide free or low-cost debt management advice, sometimes in an ongoing basis in which you regularly work with a counselor over a period of time.

Community resources aside, you can also engage another type of financial professional for issues such as budgeting and reducing debt. An Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) – who is certified by the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education – can coach you through a current financial challenge and instill habits that are compatible with a healthier financial life.

An AFC won’t develop a comprehensive financial plan, as a financial planner will, but they can set you up for success once you develop a plan. And engaging one can be considerably less expensive than hiring a financial planner.