Integrated financial plan construction and case analysis
What the exam tests
Domain 9 tests integration: can you assemble the fact-find, cash flow, risk, investment, retirement, tax and estate work into one consistent plan, prioritise recommendations, and test the result under stress? Case questions reward internal consistency and penalise isolated solutions.
Core rules
- One set of assumptions across the plan: inflation, returns, tax rates, longevity, fees and income growth.
- Sequence recommendations by protection first, then liquidity, then high-cost debt, then goal funding.
- Identify conflicts: extra retirement saving versus insurance premiums versus education funding; quantify trade-offs rather than asserting priorities.
- Test the plan with sensitivity and scenario analysis (poor early returns, inflation shock, premature death, long-term care).
- Document recommendations, responsibilities, review triggers and monitoring dates.
- A plan is a living document; reviews are triggered by life events and market drift, not only by calendar.
Worked example
A 45-year-old client earns 60,000 net, has 15,000 liquid, 4,000 monthly essential spending, a 200,000 mortgage, two children and no life cover. The reserve target is 12,000–24,000, so liquidity is marginal. The life-cover gap is roughly 500,000. Prioritise: top up the reserve to 24,000, arrange level term cover, then direct surplus to mortgage and retirement. Education funding is deferred until protection and liquidity are in place. The planner documents that the client declined a larger reserve and accepts the risk, with a review date.
Traps
Solving one domain in isolation; using different inflation or return assumptions in each module; recommending investments before insurance; ignoring tax on withdrawals; producing a plan with no implementation or review schedule.