The Financial Plan Checklist: What a Complete Plan Includes

Most people think a financial plan is a portfolio. In truth, the portfolio is one chapter of a longer story. A complete plan starts with what you want your money to do, maps where you stand today, and then coordinates every moving part so the pieces reinforce rather than undercut each other. The difference between a plan and a product is coordination.

This article is for Canadians in Ottawa and across Ontario who want to know what a genuine financial plan contains, whether you are building one yourself or judging the quality of one you have been given. Use the checklist below to find the gaps. For a broader overview of the concept, our guide to what a financial plan is sets the foundation.

1. Goals and priorities

Everything begins here, and skipping it is the most common error. Before any account or product is chosen, a plan should state in plain terms what you are trying to achieve and when: the retirement you want, the age you want it, the education you intend to fund, the legacy you hope to leave, and the lifestyle you are protecting along the way.

Goals give every later decision a reference point. A portfolio cannot be judged “right” in the abstract; it can only be right for a particular set of goals and a particular tolerance for risk. Write them down, rank them, and attach rough timelines.

2. Cash flow and net worth

Next comes an honest picture of the present. Cash flow is simply what comes in and what goes out; net worth is what you own minus what you owe. Together they show how much you can save, how much debt you carry, and how resilient you are to a shock.

• Track income, fixed costs, and discretionary spending.
• List all assets, separating what is liquid from what is tied up in a home or pension.
• List all debts, including the mortgage, lines of credit, and any investment loans.
• Confirm an adequate cash reserve for emergencies.

If you are unsure how large that reserve should be, our guide on how much to keep in an emergency fund walks through it. Avoid chasing net worth benchmarks against strangers; what matters is your own trajectory against your own goals.

3. Accounts and investment strategy

Only now does the portfolio enter. A good plan decides which accounts to use and in what order, then how to invest within them.

Account type	Core purpose	Tax treatment
TFSA	Flexible tax-free growth	Growth and withdrawals tax-free; 2026 room is $7,000
RRSP	Retirement saving with a deduction	Contributions deductible; withdrawals fully taxable
FHSA	Saving for a first home	Deductible like an RRSP; qualifying withdrawals tax-free
Non-registered	Additional investing beyond registered room	Interest, dividends, and capital gains taxed

The strategy within these accounts should match your goals and risk tolerance, be diversified, and keep costs reasonable. The specific mix depends on your circumstances and should be confirmed with your advisor. Mutual funds and other investments are not guaranteed, their values change, and past performance may not repeat. For help sequencing contributions, see our comparison of TFSA versus RRSP, and which to use first.

4. Tax planning

Tax is where coordination earns its keep. A plan should look at how your income is taxed today and how it will be taxed in retirement, and arrange your accounts and withdrawals to reduce the lifetime bill, not just this year’s.

• Use registered accounts to shelter growth where appropriate.
• Consider the order in which different incomes and accounts are drawn.
• Plan around one-time events such as a large capital gain or a business sale.
• Coordinate with your accountant so the plan and the tax return agree.

Tax rules change, and the right approach depends on your situation, so confirm specifics with an accountant. The principle, however, is durable: decisions made with an eye on tax tend to leave more in your hands over a lifetime.

5. Retirement income plan

As you approach retirement, the plan shifts from accumulating to spending. This is harder than it sounds, because the order in which you draw from your pensions, registered accounts, and non-registered savings affects your tax, your government benefits, and how long your money lasts.

A retirement-income plan should address when to start CPP and OAS, how to convert an RRSP to a RRIF, how to bridge any gap before government pensions begin, and how to guard against drawing down too fast in a weak market. Our guides on how much you need to retire in Canada and the 4% rule in a Canadian context are useful companions as you think this through.

6. Insurance and risk protection

A plan is only as strong as its weakest point, and an uninsured risk can undo decades of saving in a single event. Protection is not about buying the most insurance; it is about covering the risks that would genuinely derail the plan.

• Life insurance sufficient to protect dependants and cover obligations.
• Disability or critical illness coverage for working-age earners.
• Adequate coverage for a business, where applicable, including key people.
• A reserve of cash so you are never forced to sell investments at a bad time.

Death benefits paid to a named beneficiary are generally received tax-free and bypass the estate, which makes insurance a quiet but powerful planning tool. The right amount and type depend entirely on your circumstances.

7. Estate plan

Finally, a complete plan arranges what happens to your wealth when you are gone, so that it passes to the people you choose with as little cost and conflict as possible.

• A valid, current will, and powers of attorney for property and personal care.
• Beneficiary designations on registered accounts and insurance, kept up to date.
• An understanding of Ontario probate, roughly 1.5% on estate value above $50,000, and how to reduce it where appropriate.
• A plan for any business, cottage, or complex asset.

Registered accounts and insurance with a named beneficiary generally bypass probate, which is one reason beneficiary designations deserve regular review. Estate rules are provincial and benefit from a lawyer’s input for your specific situation.

Putting the checklist to work

Run through the seven areas and mark where you are confident and where you are guessing. The gaps are your plan’s real agenda. Most people find they are strong on investments and weak on the connections between tax, retirement income, and estate, which is precisely where a coordinated plan adds the most.

A plan is also a living document. Revisit it at least yearly and after any major change, because a plan that no longer matches your life is just a historical record.

Where plans most often fall short

Running through the checklist tends to expose the same recurring gaps. Knowing where they usually appear helps you look in the right place.

The most common gap is not a missing component but a missing connection. Many people have investments, insurance, a will, and an accountant, yet none of these parties talks to the others. The portfolio is rebalanced without regard to the tax bill, the will does not reflect how accounts are actually held, and the insurance was bought years ago and never revisited. The pieces exist; the coordination does not.

A second frequent gap is the retirement-income plan. People spend decades focused on accumulating and arrive at retirement with no clear strategy for drawing the money down. The questions of when to start CPP and OAS, how to convert an RRSP, and in what order to withdraw are left unanswered until they become urgent.

A third is stale estate documents. Wills and beneficiary designations are drafted once and forgotten, even as families change through marriage, birth, divorce, or death. An out-of-date designation can send money to the wrong person entirely, overriding the will.

The remedy is review. A plan that is revisited yearly, and after every major life change, catches these gaps before they cause harm. The checklist is most valuable not as a one-time audit but as a recurring one.

How Kevin Hayes Financial Services can help

Building and maintaining an integrated plan is the core of what we do for established families and professionals across Ottawa and Ontario. If you would like to turn this checklist into a plan that actually connects the pieces, book a private consultation, or learn more about our approach to financial planning. A good first meeting is simply about understanding your goals and where the gaps lie.