Before You Plan: Three Questions to Ground Your Decisions

Before you make plans, it helps to slow down and get grounded.

This brief reflection is designed to help you step back from tactics, projections, and market headlines and reconnect with the bigger picture of your financial life. Rather than asking what you should do next, it starts with a more fundamental question: where are you actually standing today?

The Before You Plan check-in focuses on three grounding questions that shape every good decision:

• What is true about your financial reality right now?

• What has changed — gradually or suddenly — since you last paused to reflect?

• Where do you feel the most uncertainty, friction, or lack of clarity?

From there, the worksheet gently expands into areas that often influence planning decisions behind the scenes: income predictability, obligations, timing considerations, rule changes, and how comfortable you feel with risk as circumstances evolve. The goal is not to solve everything or reach conclusions, but to surface what matters most before choices are made.

This fillable PDF is meant to be completed thoughtfully and without pressure. You can type directly into the form, save your responses, and return to it over time. Many clients find it especially helpful to complete this reflection ahead of a planning conversation, as it brings focus to the questions and concerns that deserve attention first — not last.

By grounding decisions in clarity rather than assumptions, this exercise helps ensure that whatever planning comes next is aligned, intentional, and personal.