Purpose
Generate a client-specific financial discovery questionnaire that surfaces the goals, constraints, and behavioral signals an advisor needs before building a plan — calibrated to the client's life stage, net worth, and risk tolerance rather than a generic template. Eliminates the one-size-fits-all intake form that misses what actually matters for each client.
When to Use
Invoke this skill when the user asks to:
- Build a discovery or intake questionnaire for a new financial planning client
- Prepare tailored questions for an annual or periodic client review
- Create a questionnaire for a specific client segment (pre-retirees, business owners, young professionals, high-net-worth families)
- Standardize the discovery process across an advisory practice
- Generate deeper follow-up questions after an initial fact-find
- Refresh an existing intake form for a particular life stage or asset tier
Inputs Required
Before starting, collect:
- Client life stage: Age or stage (early accumulator, mid-career, pre-retiree, retiree, business owner)
- Approximate asset level: Investable assets or net worth tier (under $250K / $250K–$1M / $1M–$5M / $5M+)
- Stated goals: What the client has already said they want (retirement, education funding, legacy, business exit, income)
- Risk tolerance signal: Conservative / moderate / aggressive, or "unknown"
- Engagement type: New-client onboarding or annual/periodic review
- Household structure: Single, married, dependents, blended family, aging parents (if known)
- Advisor service model: Comprehensive planning, investment-only, or a specific specialty (tax, estate, insurance)
If risk tolerance or household structure is unknown, include diagnostic questions to establish them and flag them as unresolved.
Instructions
Generate 40–55 Questions Across 8 Sections
For each question, include:
- The question itself, worded for the specified life stage and asset level
- Why it matters: one short advisor-facing note on what the answer reveals or informs
- Follow-up prompt (where useful): a probing question to ask if the answer is thin or signals a concern
Calibrate depth by asset level: higher net worth adds estate, tax, and entity questions; lower asset levels emphasize cash flow, debt, and foundational protection.
Section 1 — Goals & Priorities (6–8 questions) Surface what the client is actually optimizing for and how they rank competing goals.
- Include one question that forces prioritization when goals compete (e.g., ranking retirement vs. education funding vs. legacy)
- Include a "success looks like" question to capture the client's own definition of a good outcome
- For reviews: ask what has changed since the last conversation
Section 2 — Time Horizon & Life Milestones (5–6 questions) Map when money is needed and what events are on the horizon.
- Tie horizons to specific goals (retirement date, first tuition payment, business sale window)
- Probe for near-term liquidity events (home purchase, sabbatical, care obligations)
- For pre-retirees and retirees: ask about desired retirement age vs. realistic retirement age separately
Section 3 — Income, Cash Flow & Savings Capacity (6–7 questions) Establish what actually flows in and out and how much can be directed toward goals.
- Ask about income stability and sources, not just amount
- Include a discretionary-savings question to size funding capacity
- For business owners: separate personal income from business distributions and reinvestment
Section 4 — Assets, Debts & Net Worth Composition (6–8 questions) Understand the balance sheet and where assets are concentrated.
- Ask about account types (taxable, tax-deferred, Roth, employer plans) to inform tax location
- Probe for concentrated positions, illiquid assets, and real estate holdings
- Include a debt-structure question (rates, terms, and the client's emotional relationship to debt)
Section 5 — Risk Tolerance & Behavioral Signals (6–7 questions) Distinguish stated risk tolerance from actual risk behavior.
- Include a scenario question ("If your portfolio dropped 25% in six months, what would you do?")
- Ask about past investment decisions during downturns — behavior predicts more than self-rating
- Include a risk-capacity question separate from risk-willingness (can they afford the risk, not just tolerate it)
Section 6 — Protection & Contingency Planning (5–6 questions) Uncover gaps in insurance, emergency reserves, and downside coverage.
- Cover life, disability, and (for older or higher-net-worth clients) long-term care
- Ask about emergency fund size relative to expenses
- Include a "what happens if income stops for 12 months" stress question
Section 7 — Tax, Estate & Legacy (5–7 questions) Scale this section up with asset level; keep it lean for early accumulators.
- Ask about existing estate documents (will, trust, POA, healthcare directive) and last update date
- Probe charitable intent, beneficiary designations, and generational wealth-transfer wishes
- For $1M+ clients: add entity structures, gifting strategy, and estate-tax exposure questions
Section 8 — Values, Concerns & Advisor Relationship (5–6 questions) Capture the human context and what the client expects from the engagement.
- Ask about their biggest financial worry and their best financial decision
- Include a communication-preference and decision-making question (who else is involved, how often to meet)
- For onboarding: ask what a prior advisor did well or poorly, if applicable
Section Weighting by Profile
Note which sections to expand or compress for this client:
- Early accumulators: heavier on Sections 3, 5, 6; lighter on 7
- Pre-retirees: heavier on 2, 3, 4, 7
- Retirees: heavier on 2 (income sequencing), 6 (long-term care), 7
- Business owners: heavier on 3, 4, 7 (succession/exit)
- High-net-worth: heavier on 4, 7; add entity and tax-location depth throughout
Output Format
- Structure: 8 labeled sections with numbered questions; each question followed by a "Why it matters" note and, where relevant, a follow-up prompt
- Length: 1,100–1,600 words
- Format: Structured document — sectioned and scannable, not prose-heavy
- Sections: Goals & Priorities → Time Horizon & Milestones → Income & Cash Flow → Assets, Debts & Net Worth → Risk Tolerance & Behavior → Protection & Contingency → Tax, Estate & Legacy → Values, Concerns & Relationship
- Tone: Professional and consultative — advisor-facing, plain-language questions the client can answer, with concise internal rationale
Quality Checklist
Before delivering output, verify:
- [ ] Total question count falls between 40 and 55 (count them across all sections)
- [ ] Every question is worded for the specified life stage and asset level — no generic filler
- [ ] Each question includes a "Why it matters" note
- [ ] Risk section includes both a scenario/behavioral question and a risk-capacity question — not just self-rating
- [ ] Section weighting matches the client profile (estate depth scales with asset level)
- [ ] Any unknown inputs (risk tolerance, household structure) are addressed by diagnostic questions and flagged
Notes
- The most revealing answers usually come from behavioral and scenario questions, not self-reported ratings — weight Section 5 accordingly
- For annual reviews, lead with the "what has changed" questions and compress foundational sections the advisor already has on file
- This questionnaire is a discovery tool, not compliance documentation — advisors should confirm it meets their firm's required intake and suitability standards before client use
- When two goals clearly conflict for the client's capacity, the prioritization question in Section 1 becomes the single most important item on the form
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