| 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. |
