Figure 1.
Personal Financial Planning as a Latent Construct, adapted from Bogan et al. (2020).
Figure 2.
Conceptual framework for the personal financial planning definition, process, and principal knowledge topics, adapted from (CFP Board, 2022).
Figure 3.
Conceptual framework for the personal financial planning definition, process, and principal knowledge topics with possible theoretical development and research areas, adapted from (CFP Board, 2022).
Table 1.
Web of Science Search Strategy
| Search Query | Limiters | Records Returned |
|---|---|---|
| (((((all=(financial planning or financial planner or financial advice)) AND all=(theory or systematic or review or model or causal or propositional or typology or conceptual or framework or meta)))) AND TS=(theory)) AND TS=(financial) | None | 1,051 |
Figure 4.
PRISMA ScR.
Figure 5.
Personal Financial Planning Theory Types.
Figure 6.
Personal Financial Planning Theory Types by Abstraction and Scope, adapted from Doherty et al. (2009) and Asebedo (2022).
Table 2.
Theory Characteristics (N=24)
| Title | Theory Name (if given) | Author(s) and year | Journal or Publisher | Publication Type | Personal Financial Planning Definition | Personal Financial Planning Phenomenon & Research Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conceptual Frameworks (N=5) | ||||||
| 1. Personal Financial Planning Conceptual Framework | Personal Financial Planning Conceptual Framework | Brandon JR and Welch (2009); CFP Board (2022) | N/A | Website (grey) | Full definition | Integrates the personal financial planning definition, process, client outcome, education, legal, and regulatory environment |
| 2. Financial Help-Seeking Behavior: Theory and Implications | Help-Seeking Behavior: A Framework | Grable and Joo (1999) | Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning | Peer-reviewed journal article | “through financial advice” (policy and regulation) | Personal financial help-seeking behavior and characteristics. |
| 3. Psychological Influences on the Retirement Investor | The Model of Retirement Planning | Hershey (2004) | CSA: Certified Senior Advisor | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Integrates relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances” (psychology, culture, task characteristics, financial resources, and economic conditions) | Integrating non-financial and financial domains in retirement planning behavior. |
| 4. Effective Financial Planning for Retirement | Capacity, Willingness, Opportunity (CWO) model | Hershey et al. (2012) | The Oxford Handbook of Retirement | Book (grey) | “Integrates relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances” | Saving and planning behavior across the life course and underlying psychological dimensions. |
| 5. AI-based Financial Advice: An Ethical Discourse on AI-Based Financial Advice and Ethical Reflection Framework | AI Ethics Framework for Financial Advice (AIFA) | Brüggen et al. (2025) | Journal of Public Policy and Marketing | Peer-reviewed journal article | “through financial advice” (policy and regulation) | Access and ethical delivery of financial advice through various mediums (e.g., personal, hybrid, AI); theory focuses on advice delivered through AI |
| Formal Propositional Theories (N=3) | ||||||
| 6. Using a Systems Framework for Organizing Family Financial Planning | Family Financial Planning Systems Framework | Edwards (1988) | Journal of Consumer Affairs | Peer-reviewed journal article | “helps maximize a Client’s potential for meeting life goals” “through financial advice” | The financial well-being of the family as an outcome of financial planning and the role of the professional financial planner for attaining financial well-being within the family financial planning system. |
| 7. Financial Planning Client Interaction Theory | Financial Planning Client Interaction Theory | Asebedo (2019) | Journal of Personal Finance | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Collaborative process” “helps maximize a Client’s potential for meeting life goals” “through financial advice” | Financial planner-client relationship and interactions. |
| 8. The Financial Planning Journey: A Grounded Theory Toward Bias Mitigation | The Theory of the Financial Planning Journey | Jugnandan (2023) | N/A | Thesis (grey) | “Collaborative process” “Helps maximize a Client’s potential for meeting life goals” “through financial advice” | Financial planning process (journey) and bias mitigation within the context of the financial planner-client relationship. |
| Middle-Range Theories (N=5) | ||||||
| 9. Hierarchical Financial Needs Reflected by Household Financial Asset Shares | N/A | Xiao and Anderson (1997) | Journal of the Family and Economic Issues | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Through financial advice” (investment planning principal knowledge topic) | Use of financial instruments based on underlying hierarchical financial needs. |
| 10. Finding the Planning in Financial Planning | N/A | Yeske (2010) | Journal of Financial Planning | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Collaborative process” | Strategy making and approach within the financial planning process and orientation of the client relationship that fall along the spectrum of the relative roles of the planner and client. |
| 11. Theoretical Background: A New Theoretical Framework for Financial Planning with the Case of Life Insurance Demand-Dynamic Ecological Systemic Framework | Life Insurance Demand-Dynamic Ecological Systemic Framework | Heo (2020) | Springer International Publishing | Book (grey) | “through financial advice” (life insurance planning principal knowledge topic) | Demand for life insurance. |
| 12. The Value of Financial Planning: A Theoretically Grounded Approach | N/A | Asebedo (2024) | Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Collaborative process” “helps maximize a Client’s potential for meeting life goals” “through financial advice” | Financial planner-client relationship, interactions, and the valuation of client outcomes. |
| 13. A Theory of Financial Planning | Theory of Financial Planning | Lurtz et al. (n.d.) | Research Gate | Unpublished repository (grey) | “Collaborative process” “helps maximize a Client’s potential for meeting life goals” “through financial advice” | Integrates skilled decision-making within the financial planning process and financial planner-client relationship with financial health as the target client outcome. |
| Causal Models (N=2) | ||||||
| 14. Psychological Foundations of Financial Planning for Retirement | N/A | Hershey et al. (2007) | Journal of Adult Development | Peer-reviewed journal article | Integrates personal and financial circumstances (demographic, psychological, behavioral) | Integrating non-financial and financial domains in retirement planning behaviors. Extends and applies Hershey (2004). |
| 15. Internal Factors Driving Willingness to Seek Financial Advice: The Role of Trust and Anxiety | N/A | Westermann et al. (2024) | The Journal of Consumer Affairs | Peer-reviewed journal article | “through financial advice” (policy and regulation) | Personal financial help-seeking behavior and characteristics. Extends and applies Grable and Joo (1999) by incorporating and testing trust and financial advisor anxiety. |
| Empirical Generalizations (N=9) | ||||||
| 16. Psychological Antecedents of Retirement Planning: A Systematic Review | N/A | Kerry (2018) | Frontiers in Psychology | Peer-reviewed journal article | “through financial advice” (retirement planning principal knowledge topic) | This study focuses on retirement planning centered on psychological characteristics as evidenced through a systematic literature review. |
| 17. Women’s Financial Planning for Retirement: Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda | Conceptual Framework for Retirement Financial Planning of Women | Kumar et al. (2019) | International Journal of Bank Marketing | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Integrates relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances” (social, psychological, demographic, circumstantial, economic, financial literacy) | This study systematically organizes and connects the empirical literature for retirement planning characteristics for women as evidenced by a systematic literature review. |
| 18. Financial literacy: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis | Conceptual Model of Financial Literacy Research | Goyal and Kumar (2021) | International Journal of Consumer Studies | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Integrates relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances” (social, psychological, demographic, circumstantial, economic, financial literacy) | Financial literacy antecedents, mediators, and outcomes as evidenced in a systematic literature review. Includes access to financial services as an outcome through increased financial literacy. |
| 19. Financial Planning for Retirement Models: An Integrative Systematic Review | N/A | Ghadwan et al. (2022) | Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Integrates relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances” (cognitive, psychological, socio-demographic, and external variables) | Through a systematic literature review, this study provides empirical generalizations and theoretical foundations of financial planning for retirement. |
| 20. Retirement Planning–A Systematic Review of Literature and Future Research Directions | N/A | Ingale and Paluri (2023) | Management Review Quarterly | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Integrates relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances” | Through a systematic literature review, provides empirical generalizations and theoretical foundations including gaps and possible theoretical advances for retirement planning research. |
| 21. The Value of Personal Professional Financial Advice to Clients: A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review | Holistic Conceptual Framework of Value | MacDonald et al. (2023) | Accounting and Finance | Peer-reviewed journal article | “helps maximize a Client’s potential for meeting life goals” “through financial advice” | This study provides a new framework for the value of financial planning advice based on a systematic literature review. |
| 22. Prepared for Retirement? Think again: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda | Triple-A Framework for Retirement Planning | Sinha and Irala (2024) | Management Review Quarterly | Peer-reviewed journal article | “through financial advice” (retirement planning principal knowledge topic) | This study provides a conceptualization of retirement planning and an integrated framework (Triple-A) to operationalize this definition of retirement planning based on a systematic literature review. |
| 23. Financial Planning Behaviour: A Systematic Literature Review and New Theory Development | The Theory of Financial Planning Behaviour | Yeo et al. (2024) | Journal of Financial Services Marketing | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Integrates relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances” | This study provides a new conceptualization of financial planning behavior and implementation of that behavior by conducting a systematic literature review to develop the theory of planned behavior into a specific theory for financial planning behavior. |
| 24. Impact of the Financial Advisor on Client Outcomes: An Integrative Model | Integrative Model of the Impact of Financial Advisors on Their Clients’ Financial Outcomes | Pilote et al. (2024) | Financial Services Review | Peer-reviewed journal article | “Collaborative process” “through financial advice” | Based on a systematic literature review (although PRISMA was not cited), this study conceptualized a model integrating trust, knowledge, and agency within the client relationship and subsequent impact on client financial outcomes. |
Table 3.
Theory Citations (by average / year)
| # | Theory | Yr | Cites | Avg/Yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Personal Financial Planning Conceptual Framework | 1983 | N/A | N/A |
| 18 | Conceptual Model of Financial Literacy Research | 2021 | 1311 | 327.8 |
| 23 | Financial Planning Behaviour: A Systematic Literature Review and New Theory Development | 2024 | 54 | 54.0 |
| 17 | Conceptual Framework for Retirement Financial Planning of Women | 2019 | 140 | 23.3 |
| 14 | Psychological Foundations of Financial Planning for Retirement | 2007 | 340 | 18.9 |
| 20 | Retirement Planning–A Systematic Review of Literature and Future Research Directions | 2023 | 20 | 10.0 |
| 16 | Psychological Antecedents of Retirement Planning: A Systematic Review | 2018 | 63 | 9.0 |
| 4 | Capacity, Willingness, Opportunity (CWO) model | 2012 | 106 | 8.2 |
| 2 | Help-Seeking Behavior: A Framework | 1999 | 183 | 7.0 |
| 19 | Financial Planning for Retirement Models: An Integrative Systematic Review | 2022 | 19 | 6.3 |
| 9 | Hierarchical Financial Needs Reflected by Household Financial Asset Shares | 1997 | 148 | 5.3 |
| 12 | The Value of Financial Planning: A Theoretically Grounded Approach | 2024 | 4 | 4.0 |
| 21 | The Value of Personal Professional Financial Advice to Clients: A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review | 2023 | 8 | 4.0 |
| 3 | The Model of Retirement Planning | 2004 | 74 | 3.5 |
| 7 | Financial Planning Client Interaction Theory | 2019 | 14 | 2.3 |
| 10 | Finding the Planning in Financial Planning | 2010 | 20 | 1.3 |
| 5 | AI Ethics Framework for Financial Advice (AIFA) | 2025 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Prepared for Retirement? Think again: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda | 2024 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 24 | Integrative Model of the Impact of Financial Advisors on Their Clients’ Financial Outcomes | 2024 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 11 | Life Insurance Demand-Dynamic Ecological Systemic Framework | 2020 | 2 | 0.4 |
| 6 | Family Financial Planning Systems Framework | 1988 | 11 | 0.3 |
| 8 | The Theory of the Financial Planning Journey | 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Theory of Financial Planning (unpublished) | n.d. | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Internal Factors Driving Willingness to Seek Financial Advice: The Role of Trust and Anxiety | 2024 | 0 | 0 |