Etheridge: There is one alternative to cash 
flow modelling? Guessing

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Paul Etheridge, founder and chairman of The Prestwood Group, states the case for what he believes is the defining trait of a financial planner...

Cash flow modelling – from back-of-an-envelope calculations to detailed assumptions-based software – is a tool to explore how financial planners can help clients long term. Just as the choice of platform or back office system should be irrelevant to your process, it is the fact that you do cash flow modelling to support financial planning that distinguishes your service – not the system you use. The only alternative to cash flow modelling is guessing and it is absurd to develop financial plans without any real understanding of clients’ long term aspirations, or even that unknowingly t...

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