Overview
A Stencil is a template of placeholder tiles representing assets, insurances, liabilities, and incomes. Applying a stencil to a household cuts the time it takes for making maps. It allows you to show your clients what their peer group could potentially have, or it can be used as a handout for clients to overwrite the tiles with their own financial information.
Stencils in Asset-Map serve as templates or blueprints for different household types or financial scenarios. Also, by customizing stencils, you can create entries for specific items, such as different types of insurance or financial assets, making it easier to apply these templates to new or existing client households. You can also update stencil entries to ensure they appear in accurate reports for client meetings.
This customization capability in stencils promotes efficiency, ensures consistency, and can readily adapt to various financial planning contexts.
More on building a customized stencil blow (click here).
Apply and Clear a Stencil
Right-click (command-click) on the Asset-Map (also available on the Actions Menu on the left-side navigation menu, colored cross, while on the Asset-Map)
Select Stencils
Select Apply Stencil
Select Public Library (or My Stencils)
Scroll through the dropdown list and click on the desired Stencil
Click Apply
To clear a stencil, right-click (command-click) on the Asset-Map, select Stencils, and then Clear Stencil.
Public Library and My Stencils
Asset-Map Platform hosts a library of stencils that you may use. Your broker-dealer may restrict the types of stencils available, and you can create your own custom stencils, which will be stored in your household index and displayed in the My Stencils library.
We encourage you to use the Public Library stencils as a starting point to make your own and store them in your My Stencils library (hosted in your Household Index).
Note: The Building Blocks stencil applies to one member, not a couple (primary and spouse). The others will apply to a couple with the roles of primary and spouse automatically. The Building Blocks stencil is very functional. Please refer to this article for detailed information:
Preview Before Applying
You can preview the stencil by clicking the image icon to the left of the desired stencil before applying.
Copy Public Stencil to My Stencils for Customizing
You can make a public stencil your own by adding it to your personal library (My Stencils tab). Though this isn't necessary, it's good to customize the specific stencil for your use. Click the "+" to the right of the desired stencil to copy the public stencil into your library.
How to Apply Part of a Stencil to One Member
You can apply part of a stencil to a member of a household.
Choose a specific stencil to work with.
Take a look at the preview of the stencil to see the tiles that belong to the Primary or other member on the map.
Click "No" when asked to Apply stencil to entire household?
From the left drop-down menu, select a specific member of the stencil whose financials will be applied.
From the right drop-down menu, select the household member you wish to apply the Stencil financials to.
Click Apply Stencil.
The one member's stencil tiles will apply to the one household member.
How to Build a Custom Stencil
Building a customized stencil follows the same steps as manually creating a household in Asset-Map, found here and below.
1. Click the Add Household button from the home page. Select Manual.
2. Select STENCIL as the type of household.
3. Enter in the stencil's household name, such as "Single Parent Stencil."
4. City/state are optional fields.
5. Enter Country
6. Enter your stencil family member's name, age (greater than zero), gender, and relationship.
Tip: The only parameter that matters here is the "relationship," but fields in red are required.
7. Click Save Household.
8. Add financials that define your stencil using the Actions menu.To add various financial or insurance items to a stencil, use the 'Actions' menu located on the left-hand side of the screen. Add each desired tile (e.g., insurance, liability items, etc.) individually to the stencil household. Once updated, this customized stencil can be reused for other households.
Your custom stencil is now available in the My Stencils library. It is also in your Household Index for future editing.
Tip: Here's how to make a custom stencil from an already existing client household
How to Customize a Platform Stencil
Asset-Map provides a number of stencils with your subscription. To view the variety of stencils made available by Asset-Map, open the stencil application tool:
Click the Actions menu
Click Stencils
Click Apply Stencil
Click Public Library and scroll through the list.
Tip! Clicking the image icon located to the left of the stencil name will display a preview of the stencil. To add it to your Household Index book of business and make it accessible in your My Stencils library, click the plus icon on the right side.
Customization occurs at this stage: when you add the public library stencil to your My Stencils library and Household Index.
Since it is in your Household Index you may open and modify the stencil by applying new tiles, changing names and dollar amounts, or removing tiles. After saving these changes, your stencil will be tailored for your use within the My Stencils library, eliminating the need to scroll through the Public library.
How to Delete a Custom Stencil
A stencil is a type of household; therefore, you can delete them in the same way as any household.
Click here to see how to delete a household
How to Clear Stencil Tiles (all at once or individually)
Click the Clear Stencil option on the Actions menu to remove all stencil tiles on a household at once. Caution! This might include topics provided by the Discovery Interview. We suggest saving those first before clearing.
Select individual tiles for deletion by clicking the undesired tile to open its edit window. Click the trashcan icon to remove the tile.
Alternatively, use the Search and Select tool in the upper right area to remove multiple stencil tiles that you choose. Here's how to use Search and Select.
Tips to Know About a Stencil
Target-Maps™ and Comprehensive Reports are not available for households set as Type: Stencil.
Clear all stencil placeholders with a click of a mouse using the "Clear Stencil" option on the toggle menu.
Stencil financials with a value will be displayed and calculated on Target-Maps and the Financials page.
Stencils provided by Asset-Map cannot be edited nor deleted. They can be copied to your My Stencil library for modification.
Stencil placeholder financials are applied to the corresponding Member "Relationship".
For example:
The "Primary" Member in Stencil is applied to the Primary Member in Household.
The "Spouse" Member in Stencil is applied to the Spouse Member in Household. The "Dependent" Member in Stencil is applied to the Dependent Member in Household, etc.Ensure that gray stencil tiles are updated to appear as finalized tiles with a colored border if they are to be included in Financials reports. This conversion can be done by clicking and updating each tile individually.
Top Questions Advisors Ask
Q. Why are only my primary stencil member's stencil tiles applying when I have a spouse (or other relationship type) on my stencil as well?
A. There is a one-to-one relationship of relationship types between the client household members and stencil members. Ensure the household members are the same as the stencil's members. For example:
Primary (stencil) ➡️ Primary (client);
Spouse (stencil) ➡️ Spouse (client).
Q. Why can't I print Target-Maps or Reports? A. Stencil Households deactivate the Target-Maps and Reports pages because no calculations are made, nor are Reports produced from a stencil. Once applied to a Client, Prospective, or Sample household, printing and Target-Maps become available. Additionally, ensure that gray stencil tiles are finalized by updating them manually. Without this step, these tiles will not appear in Financials reports or be printable.
Q. What's the difference between a stencil and any other type of household?
A. Stencils are made available as an overlay for the other types of households using the Apply Stencil window. The other difference is that, when applied, tiles appear as gray placeholders until saved.
Q. I don't see some of the stencils here. How do I get them?
A. Your Broker Dealer might have limited the stencil selection. However, you have the ability to create your own by clicking the Add Household icon ("+"). (See above) Also, you may be looking at the wrong tab. Check out the Public Stencils for our platform stencils instead of the My Stencils tab.
Q. Stencil won't apply or doesn't appear?
Make sure that no financials are "linked" to others, make sure that all end ages are under 100 years old, and make sure that the stencil member or client age is not zero. That usually does the trick. If not, please let us know.
9/2025