Module 7: Project Paper and Comprehensive Plan
What Module 7 tests
Module 7 is the project paper: a comprehensive case requiring integration of Modules 1-6 into a client plan. It tests assumptions, calculations, prioritization, suitability, and written communication. The examiner looks for a coherent plan, not a list of products.
Core rules
- State the client's goals, constraints, and risk profile; reconcile conflicts such as early retirement versus high debt.
- Show assumptions for inflation, returns, taxes, fees, and mortality. Keep them consistent across cash flow, retirement, and estate projections.
- Prioritize: emergency reserve, adequate insurance, high-interest debt, then goal funding. Recommendations must be specific and measurable.
- Include implementation responsibilities and a monitoring schedule. Explain trade-offs and alternatives considered.
Worked example
A 45-year-old couple has $30,000 cash, $120,000 in retirement accounts, $15,000 credit-card debt at 18%, and a $400,000 mortgage. They want to fund college in 8 years and retire at 65. The paper should first build a 3-6 month emergency fund, pay down the card, confirm disability and term life coverage, then direct surplus to retirement and a 529-type education account. The recommendation is supported by a cash-flow projection showing the college goal and retirement gap.
Traps
Product-first recommendations; unsupported return assumptions; inconsistent numbers between sections; ignoring taxes, fees, or insurance; no monitoring; failing to address client concerns.