| Course | GF590 Personal Financial Planning |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Client interview question set |
| Length | About 790 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Finance |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for GF590 Unit 2
Every Question Feeds the Plan: A Unit 2 Client Interview Question Set for a Two-Income Household
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
GF590: Personal Financial Planning
Unit 2 Client Interview Question Set
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The household is composite; no real client is described; the sources cited are real.
Purpose of the Set
This set guides a first ninety-minute meeting. It moves from the relationship to values to facts, because a couple asked for account balances before being asked what they want tends to describe their goals in the terms of their balances. Early stages use open questions that invite stories; later stages use closed questions that produce figures. Each question carries a tag in parentheses at the end naming the plan section it serves: cash flow, risk, education, retirement, investment or estate. Follow-up prompts sit under the questions most likely to draw a vague first answer.
Stage 1: The Engagement
1. What would you like to leave this meeting with? (all sections)
2. When you make a large money decision together, how does it usually happen? (all sections)
3. Is there anything you have already decided that you do not want reopened? (all sections)
Stage 2: Values and Goals
4. Picture a good year ten years from now. What are you doing, and where? (retirement, education)
5. What did money mean in the homes you each grew up in? (investment)
6. If your income stopped for six months, what would worry you most? (risk, cash flow)
Follow-up: Which bill would you pay first?
7. What would you do differently if money were not a concern? (retirement)
8. What would you regret not having done if you learned you had ten years left? (estate, retirement)
A question earns its place in this set only if one plausible answer to it would change a recommendation; questions asked out of habit, such as favorite investments, were removed.
Stage 3: Employment and Income
9. Does the school district withhold Social Security tax from the teacher's pay, or only Medicare? (risk, retirement)
Follow-up: Has either of you worked in a job covered by Social Security for at least ten years?
10. How does the pharmacist's group disability policy define disability, and for how long? (risk)
11. Is the employer's retirement match calculated each paycheck or once a year? (retirement, cash flow)
12. Are any raises, step increases or job changes expected in the next two years? (cash flow)
The Social Security question matters for this household in particular. A teacher outside the program builds no survivor protection for the children through her own work. Since January 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act has ended the reductions that once applied to spouses with a non-covered pension, so her possible benefits on the pharmacist's record also need checking (Social Security Administration, 2025).
Stage 4: Cash Flow and Debt
13. Roughly how much reaches your accounts each month, and how much do you think you spend? (cash flow)
14. Which debts are you paying, and which feel most pressing? (cash flow)
15. Does the teacher's student loan qualify for any public service forgiveness program? (cash flow)
Stage 5: Education
16. What share of college costs do you intend to carry for each child? (education)
17. Would you expect the children to work or borrow for part of it? (education)
Stage 6: Retirement
18. At what age would each of you like to stop work, and how firm is that age? (retirement)
19. Do you expect to support a parent at any point? (cash flow, retirement)
Stage 7: Risk and Investments
20. When markets fell in a past year, what did you do with your accounts? (investment)
21. Are there any holdings you would not sell for personal reasons? (investment)
Stage 8: Estate
22. If something happened to both of you, who would raise the children? (estate)
23. When did you last review the beneficiaries on your accounts and policies? (estate, risk)
Closing the Meeting
The last questions are framed open because they often draw out concerns that did not fit earlier stages: "What did you hope we would bring up today that never came up?" Life planning practitioners recommend ending on the client's own words rather than the planner's summary (Kinder, 1999). The planner then confirms the scope of the engagement in writing, consistent with professional standards (CFP Board, 2018).
Document Request List
Ordered by which analysis needs each item first: recent pay stubs for both; three months of bank and card statements; loan statements; the mortgage statement; retirement and 529 statements; the teacher's pension statement; Social Security statements for both; group life and disability summaries; homeowners and auto declarations; last year's tax return; any wills; and beneficiary forms.
References
CFP Board. (2018). Code of ethics and standards of conduct. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. https://www.cfp.net/ethics/code-of-ethics-and-standards-of-conduct
Kinder, G. (1999). The seven stages of money maturity: Understanding the spirit and value of money in your life. Delacorte Press.
Social Security Administration. (2025). Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update. https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html
Reading the GF 590 Unit 2 instructions
For the second GF590 assignment you prepare the questions you would bring to a first meeting with a household. Open with a short purpose statement explaining how the meeting will flow and why. Group questions into stages that move from the relationship and the clients' values toward factual details, and explain why open questions come early and closed ones later. Tag each question with its plan section; a question with no destination should be cut. Include questions specific to the household in your case, such as unusual employment benefits or pension coverage, and explain why they matter. Add follow-up prompts where a first answer is likely to be vague. Close with a list of documents to request, ordered by which analysis needs them first. Cite planning standards in APA 7.
How this GF590 Unit 2 example is built
A purpose section explains the move from relationship to values to facts and the tagging rule. Stage one asks what the couple hopes to leave with. Stage two holds five values questions, including a good year ten years from now and what they would regret, citing Kinder on life planning. The highlighted sentence states the selection rule. Employment questions follow, including Social Security coverage for the teacher, with a paragraph citing the Social Security Administration on the 2025 Fairness Act. Cash flow, education, retirement, investment and estate stages follow, from the share of college costs the parents intend to carry to who would raise the children. A closing section ends on the clients' own words and confirms scope in writing, citing the CFP Board, and a document request list closes the set.
Reading the GF590 Unit 2 grading rubric
GF590 question sets earn most of their points for purpose. Graders look for a tag beside each question showing the plan section it feeds and for the absence of questions asked only out of habit. The stage order matters too: moving from values to facts, and explaining why, shows awareness of how clients answer. Questions tailored to the household, such as pension coverage for a teacher outside Social Security, earn substantial credit because they prove the set was written for these clients. Instructors in the MS in Finance program value follow-up prompts placed where vague answers are likely, and a document list ordered by when each item is needed. Sources here are practical ones: Kinder's life planning work for the values stage, the planners' code for scope and an SSA notice for the pension question.
Common GF590 Unit 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
GF590 Unit 2 sets often copy a generic intake form, asking for every account balance in the first five minutes and never asking what the couple wants. Others ask only open questions and never reach the facts the plan requires. Tags are missing, so the reader cannot see why a question is there. Household-specific issues, such as a pension in place of Social Security or a disability definition, are overlooked. Follow-ups are absent, and the document list is unordered. If your case describes a different household, perhaps a single parent, a business owner or a retiree, the structure still works: purpose, staged questions from values to facts, a tag on each, questions unique to that household, follow-up prompts and a document list in order of need.
Get a GF590 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Paste the household facts your GF590 Unit 2 case gives, the number of questions or format required, and the rubric. A custom set stages questions from relationship to facts, writes some only your case would need, tags each to a plan section and closes with a document request list. The first one is free; allow 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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GF590 Unit 2 questions, answered
Why ask about Social Security coverage for a teacher?
Because in a number of states some public school positions are outside Social Security and covered by a state pension instead. That changes survivor benefits for the children, retirement income and how the plan values the pension. The sample asks it plainly and requests a pay stub to confirm, since the answer shapes several later units.
Where can I find a free GF590 Unit 2 sample paper?
A complete GF590 Unit 2 client interview question set is on this page, with twenty-three tagged questions in eight stages for a pharmacist and teacher household, a document list and APA 7 references.
How many questions does the sample set contain?
Twenty-three, in eight stages. The number matters less than the rule that each question could change a recommendation; questions that would not were removed.
Why do values questions come before account balances?
Couples asked for balances first tend to describe their goals in terms of those balances. Starting with open questions about what they want gives the planner goals in the clients' own words.
What changed for teachers outside Social Security in 2025?
The Social Security Fairness Act ended the reductions that used to apply to spousal and survivor benefits for people with pensions from jobs outside Social Security, so a teacher's benefits on a spouse's record now need fresh checking.