Financial Planning Questionnaire Template

A financial planning questionnaire is a structured form that collects a client's full financial picture — income, assets, liabilities, risk tolerance, and short- and long-term goals — before an advisory session. It gives planners the data they need to move straight into strategy rather than spending meeting time on basic discovery.

Send it at least 48 hours before the first planning session so you have time to review responses and prepare tailored recommendations. It's also the right tool when a client experiences a major life event — marriage, inheritance, job loss, or retirement — that requires revisiting an existing financial plan.

Cover five core areas: income sources and stability, current assets and investment holdings, outstanding liabilities and debt structure, short- and long-term financial goals, and risk tolerance. Adding a section on dependents and major upcoming expenses — like education or home purchase — gives advisors a complete picture in one pass.

Map each client's risk tolerance score against their stated goals and timeline before the meeting. Where there's a mismatch — high-risk appetite but a five-year retirement horizon, for example — flag it as an agenda item. Responses also let you benchmark a client's current allocation against their targets and prioritize which gaps to address first.

A financial planning questionnaire is broader — it captures goals, timeline, and risk tolerance alongside asset and liability data, making it suited for ongoing advisory relationships. A wealth assessment form typically focuses on net-worth calculation at a point in time and is more common in one-off valuation or estate-planning contexts.