Personal Financial Planning Theories: A Scoping Review

Abstract This review identified the scope and status of theory developed within the professional practice of personal financial planning to specifically explain personal financial planning phenomena and to review the characteristics of the literature representing personal financial planning-specific theory. A theoretical foundation is required for personal financial planning to convey its boundaries, characteristics, and functions and to clarify the indicator disciplines and approaches that explain and inform it. This review ascertains the status of this theoretical foundation. This scoping review identified 24 theories unique to the professional practice of personal financial planning, ranging across empirical generalizations, causal models, middle-range theories, formal propositional theories, and conceptual frameworks. The results suggest that personal financial planning theories are more developed with broader coverage than initially thought, although they are far from complete.