Personal Money Planning, LLC is a fee‐only financial planning and investment advisory firm. This
means that we help people reach the goals they have in life through financial planning, the giving
of investment advice, and managing investments. We work directly for our clients, not for a
brokerage firm or an insurance company. We don't try to sell you stuff. We're not allowed to sell
you stuff. The brokers, mutual funds, investment, or insurance companies that we use do not
pay us to sell you their stuff.
The firm operates under the business name, Personal Money Planning, LLC. Michelle Kuehner is
the President and serves as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer. She has been a Registered
Investment Advisor Representative since 2015. Based on billable and pro‐bono assets as of
December 31, 2023, the firm has $109,891,438 in discretionary assets under management.
Personal Money Planning became registered as an SEC‐regulated advisory firm on April 14, 2022.
By far, most of Personal Money Planning, LLC’s clients use us for (and therefore most of our
income comes from) managing their investment portfolios. However, we do provide both hourly
investment consultations and financial planning services. We often cover sub‐categories of
financial planning for our clients. The two areas that have the greatest interests are retirement
planning and college funding.
We believe that starting out with financial planning and then adding investment management to
the financial planning process best serves the interests of most of our clients. Without financial
planning, it is impossible to determine the likelihood of meeting your goals. It is also impossible
to make sure all aspects of your financial life will work in harmony.
While we prefer financial planning be completed, we also offer other services to those who, due
to their personal circumstances or budget, choose not to undertake full planning. We can advise
on an hourly or ongoing basis on a client's investments, 401(k) plan, IRA decisions, insurance
selection, or other financial matters. Examples of other financial matters include, but are not
limited to, retirement planning, educations expense planning, risk management, estate planning,
and budgeting. Most clients have us manage their investments on an ongoing basis.
We are not knowledgeable in cross‐border issues. So, if you are an American citizen living
overseas, or a foreigner living in the United States, while we can handle your investments, we
are not versed in tax, estate, and other planning issues specific to your needs in these areas. We
know a lot about taxes and laws, but do not consider ourselves to be tax or legal experts. For tax
or legal expertise, we suggest you speak with your tax and legal advisors. If you do not have a tax
or legal advisor, we would be happy to recommend some to you.
When it comes to investment and planning advice, there are three types of services that we
offer:
Ongoing Advisory and Investment Management: We monitor your investment portfolio on an
ongoing basis and adjust it as needed.
Hourly Consulting: Advice is available at an hourly rate for those with more modest assets or
needs.
Financial Coaching: Non‐investment‐related advice is available at a monthly rate for those with
more modest assets or needs.
When tailoring a portfolio for a client, we consider many factors, including, but not limited to,
the amount of assets under management, financial goals of the client, and cash flow needs,
whether short term or anticipated. In addition, the client’s risk tolerance is considered when
determining the overall asset allocation of the portfolio.
While the advisor has discretionary authority, the client may choose to restrict the purchases or
sales of specific securities or entire asset classes. Likewise,
the client may request the purchase
or sale of certain securities.
In addition to investment management services, we offer occasional educational seminars to
inform interested parties about financial planning, investments, insurance, tax reduction, etc.
Teaching materials used include written handouts, video, computer‐generated graphics, and
verbal presentations, depending on the subject, complexity, and location. Although this may or
may not be a paid service, the service terminates at the conclusion of the seminar.
Miscellaneous Disclosures
Client Obligations. In performing our services, we shall not be required to verify any information
received from the client or from the client’s other designated professionals, and we are expressly
authorized to rely thereon. Moreover, each client is advised that it remains their responsibility to
promptly notify us if there is ever any change in their financial situation or investment objectives
for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services.
Retirement Rollovers – No Obligation / Conflict of Interest: A client or prospective client leaving
an employer typically has four options regarding an existing retirement plan (and may engage in
a combination of these options): (i) leave the money in the former employer’s plan, if permitted,
(ii) roll over the assets to the new employer’s plan, if one is available and rollovers are permitted,
(iii) roll over the assets to an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”), or (iv) cash out the account
value (which could, depending upon the client’s age, result in adverse tax consequences). If we
recommend that a client roll over their retirement plan assets into an account to be managed by
us, such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if we will earn a new (or increase our
current) advisory fee because of the rollover. No client is under any obligation to roll over
retirement plan assets to an account managed by us.
Portfolio Activity. We have a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with the client’s best
interest. As part of its investment advisory services, we will review client portfolios on an
ongoing basis to determine if any changes are necessary based upon various factors, including,
but not limited to, investment performance, mutual fund manager tenure, style drift, and/or a
change in the client’s investment objective. Based upon these factors, there may be extended
periods of time when we determine that changes to a client’s portfolio are neither necessary nor
prudent. Clients nonetheless remain subject to the fees described in Item 5 below during periods
of account inactivity. Of course, there can be no assurance that investment decisions made by
our firm will be profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
Wrap Fee Program. We do not sponsor or participate in a wrap fee program.
Model Portfolio Strategies. Once we establish the investment needs of a client, we implement
using model portfolio strategies. These models are increments from those with no or low equity
holdings to those that contain nominally the equivalent of 80% stock exposure with the main
factor being the risk temperament and capacity of the client.
The portfolios are then modified1 based on client cash‐flow needs, requested or required cash
holdings, and specific securities the client wants or does not want included. Then, on an ongoing
basis, using econometric inputs we will hedge the equity and/or fixed income positions.
Note that “portfolios” may consist of one or more client accounts. Clients may have more than
one portfolio if they have different goals that need to be achieved and can’t be achieved using a
single model.
1 More details can be found in the Investment Management Description document and is
available upon request.