Quoted: How Advisors Use Risk, Time Horizon, and Goals to Build Better Plans

Link: 3 Key Factors Financial Advisors Use to Build Your Plan — ComparisonAdviser

Published: July 15, 2025

This article highlights the three foundational elements that shape every personalized financial plan: risk tolerance, time horizon, and financial goals. Carson McLean, CFP® and founder of Altruist Wealth Management, is featured prominently for his insight into how these inputs influence both behavioral and practical planning decisions.

Carson emphasizes the difference between risk tolerance (how much risk you think you can handle) and risk capacity (how much risk you can actually afford). He also shares how a longer time horizon expands a client’s ability to take risk—even if it doesn’t feel that way emotionally. This perspective helps ground planning decisions in both math and mindset.

The piece explores how advisors integrate these three factors into cohesive, flexible plans that evolve with life events—retirement, inheritance, health changes—and explains why ongoing collaboration matters.