Critical Path® System
Guiding portfolios to last a lifetime
The Critical Path® is a decision making framework and reporting system that intuitively reflects the progress that an investor’s portfolio is making towards a specific goal or their projected lifetime spending needs.

How we build a client’s Critical Path®
Step 1: Collect financial planning information
Since the Critical Path acts as the vehicle to display a portfolio in the context of the financial plan, we first need to collect the core financial planning information. Some pieces of information include:
- Age
- Goal and the goal’s time horizon
- Investable assets
- Net cash flows desired
- Net desired cash flows to purchase today
Step 2: See if the plan stands the test of time
Using the financial planning data that you provide, we create the client’s Critical Path, run a historical audit and provide the historical probabilities of success for the proposed financial plan and investments. By showing investments in the context of the financial plan, the feasibility of the client’s goals are shown in a historically significant manner, which may allow you to keep, or get your client on track.
Below are some charts and tables that we typically include in our Critical Path proposals.

By looking at returns during the dawn of the Great Depression and the Post World War II era, our goal is to provide you and your client’s with more perspective into the potential longevity of the proposed portfolio.
Once you and your client have defined the client’s Critical Path, we begin investing with the goal of delivering a representative portfolio. Below is an example of how we may have implemented a client’s portfolio.

For example, if a client has income securities that are projected to meet the next ten years of their spending needs, we may purchase a growth portfolio that is designed to maximize their minimum returns over a 7-15 year time horizon.
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Chart Disclosures
After implementing the portfolio, we send you an annual Critical Path report that shows where the client is relative to their Critical Path along with recommendations that are intended to improve the financial plan’s probability of success.
If your client is thinking about making a change to their financial plan, we can create a modified Critical Path that shows the potential impact that the proposed change may have on their ability to meet their long-term planning goals. By showing the potential impact of any proposed changes, the Critical Path® may allow you to understand if your client can adopt the proposed change while maintaining the integrity of their long-term planning goals.
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