Talk:Financial plan
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (May 2007) |
[edit] Personal and business financial plans
I started trying to expand this so that the article will cover both personal and business uses of the term financial plan. There seems to be a professional group of personal financial advisers who wrote this article using mostly their own use of the term. I'm not saying that's wrong, of course, I'm just working on adding some additional uses of the term. All help is greatly appreciated. --SueHay 21:54, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Two observations/assertions:
1. In reviewing Wikipedia entries in the finance fields, I've noticed a tendency to define a generic term by describing a conventional meaning or application in 'business', as opposed to a meaning or application for a person-entity. I've noted that this leads to a 'term bias'. The clearest example, for which I've commented recently, relates to strategic planning. The same applies here (financial plan).
2. Let's focus on personal financial plan for the moment. There are at least two perspectives: (i) a sell-side, conventional wisdom (c.w.) view pushed from the financial services industry AND (ii) a buy-side or consumer-side perspective (of what a 'personal financial plan' is).
<...All help is greatly appreciated...> My efforts will be to challenge validity/basis of 2.i., while simultaneously advancing the perspective of 2.ii.
--Sagetele1 13:12, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
- This article should define what a financial plan is, just like an article on bird tells the reader what a bird is. The selling and buying of financial plans (just like the selling and buying of birds) is a tangential topic best covered in an article about an industry. That's how I see this. --SueHay 22:48, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
As the section is currently written <example:...In general usage, a financial plan can be a budget...can also be an investment plan...> - is saying what it can be, not what a financial plan most definitely is. The financial plan section should at least consist of generic, common elements of any plan < framework >. For that, one should be able to cross reference to what a plan is, e.g. strategic planning. For example, a currently omitted element of a financial plan -- goals, objectives and targets (after all, without goals, objectives & targets, what's the point of a budget or investment plan?). Also missing and found in any generic plan - decisions and actions, timing, priority.
I would agree that buying and selling of financial plans is a tangential point, but my earlier point was meant to suggest that, in establishing the definition of what a financial plan is, it needs to be driven from it's intended use (i.e. consumer perspective). I have observed that for various financial topics, the declaration of what something is seems to be driven or derived from an institutional or financial services (a seller's) point point-of-view. --69.182.211.53 14:05, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
- I believe the opening statement indicates that the structure and content of a financial plan differs somewhat depending on the plan's scope. Personal financial plans tend to differ in structure and content from corporate financial plans. As far as "goals, objectives and targets," it can be argued that adhering to a financial plan is the goal/objective/target. Very few people buy or sell something they can't define, however vaguely. The financial planning industry, just like the auto industry, markets its product with a lot of hype. That's marketing. What needs to be here in Wikipedia is a clear description of what a financial plan is. Whatever reference sources you have for the use, content and structure of financial plans, please consider expanding this article to include your information. --SueHay 02:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
