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Sometimes when people find out I’m a financial planner they immediately ask me questions about individual stocks or the market. When I don’t know anything about the stock in question, they sometimes act surprised.

They say things to me like, “you’re in finance and deal with the stock market, how did you not hear about this?” “How come you didn’t hear about the merger between SO&SO and Them&US?” “You didn’t see that XYZ stock dropped 6 points today?”

Continue Reading “I don’t know much about stocks!”

The reason why the financial planning process works so well is because it aligns you and your clients.

The plan puts you on the same wavelength; you tend to work far more efficiently together. And here’s a real biggie…. there are far fewer trust issues to deal with, than if there is no financial plan in place.

Let me ask you a question: Have you ever had a successful relationship when there were trust issues, financial or otherwise? I’m going to say NO to that.

Here’s another question: What would you say, is a major problem that has plagued the financial services business for as long as I can remember? Trust.

Continue Reading “Fixing the alignment”

I’m sorry if I kept you on the hook from the last post… I was only trying to be dramatic in order to make a point.

There isn’t a magic account that few know about… that’s rarely the case in finance. There aren’t many new things, in fact, just the same time tested ideas packaged differently.

BUT… An exception to that statement is the Roth IRA; letting Americans take their IRA monies out TAX FREE was a wonderful NEW idea.

Continue Reading “Fuggetta ‘Bout It - A Winning Investment Psychology”

You can never strip the emotions out of investing. Nor would you want to, emotions are what makes us human.

I always want to know how my clients are feeling, I don’t want a bunch of robots that are tough to read. BUT with that said, sometimes, you’d wish that client’s didn’t have such emotional overreactions.

Part of a planner’s job is to know your clients tolerance for risk. Part of a planners job is to reassure clients when things start to get rough, when the investing ocean gets a bit choppy.

Part of a planners job is to meet with the client periodically to go over the plan and reinforce the process and what we’re trying to accomplish. Part of a planner’s job is to know your client’s temperament and teach your clients how to manage their emotions better.

Continue Reading “Stripping the emotions out”

I’ve talked about how a financial plan brings clarity to a client’s current situation and allows you to plot a course for the future.

The planning experience gives the client more confidence and a new resolve that is hard to shake. But I never said the client’s new resolve “can never be shaken”.

As helpful as a financial plan can be, it doesn’t insulate the client from overreacting to the volatility the markets can create. This is especially true of growth oriented clients that were invested in stocks over the past 10 years.

Continue Reading “A client’s resolve”

Yesterday I wrote a piece about the upside of good planning. I wrote about the powerful psychological effects a formal financial plan can have on a client. Well, I slept on it and completely changed my mind!

I think if you throw darts into the financial section of the WSJ you have a better chance of putting together an investment portfolio that works for the long haul. Just kidding, joke joke haha.

If you’ve been reading CFTPM, then you know by now that I’m a huge believer in the planning process. But my objective here is not to paint this overly rosy picture of how financial planning is the answer to all of life’s mysteries. My objective is to tell it like I see it and share some insights based on my experiences.

Which got me thinking about the downside to poor planning. So I racked my brain and decided to share one of the few negative experiences that I can remember. Continue Reading “Financial planning gone wild”

I’ve had times in my life where I’ve just felt overwhelmed, not knowing where to start or how to deal with something out of my comfort zone.

I’ve gotten discouraged, frustrated and ended up pushing things off indefinitely, feeling somewhat paralyzed… you ever feel that way?

Well, I think that’s how many people feel when it comes to managing their personal finances.

Not unlike a lot of things in life you have to address the problem, educate yourself and find someone you trust to help you…

Continue Reading “The upside of good planning”

The purpose of the financial planning process is to prepare a road-map for clients to follow, using this road-map as a guide to accomplishing all of their financial objectives.

Pretty logical, pretty straight forward, makes sense to me and all my clients. Why do you think the financial planning process works so well? Well, lets take a closer look…

What’s the difference between a dream and a plan?

A dream is a vague notion; a plan is a road-map which has dates and amounts tied to those dreams.

So if you had to choose between a dream or a plan… which do you think would be better suited to getting you where you want to go? — safe to say a plan.

Continue Reading “The real benefits of a financial plan”

As I mentioned in my last post… it would be hard for a financial planner to justify spending the time to sit down with a 35 year old with little assets and no plan.

Personally, I’d love to spend 1 hour with every 35 yr old I come across and talk to them about the importance of preparing for the future, opening a Roth IRA or about making the right investment choices in their company 401k (or 403B, etc.) plan; but there’s not enough time in the day.

(BTW, for the purposes of many of these posts I will use an arbitrary age or age range… I’m really speaking to all of you in your 30’s and 40’s and anyone else that may find this information relevant)

But a little light bulb went off in my head and I figured out a way to speak with one voice to a large audience…

So I got on the phone and called Giant Stadium and asked if there were any days still available to pack 70,000 people in there, to talk about the importance of Roth IRA’s and GenX financial planning issues. Unfortunately, they told me that U2 and Ozzfest had priority over my little function and I’d have to wait til 2020.

Haha… I hope you didn’t believe that but don’t tempt me in the future.

Continue Reading “Babysteps to filling a sizable void”

I’ve been a licensed financial planner for nearly 13 years now. I’d like to give you an example of what a typical client of mine looks like, keeping in mind I only deal with retail customers:

A couple in their late 50’s to mid 70’s, with anywhere from no children up to 6 children… the BabyBoomer generation.

I know I’ve given you a very broad range here but it does encapsulate the demographic that makes up the overwhelming majority of my client base… and I’m willing to bet… the client base of most financial planners and advisors in this country.

Continue Reading “The Sweetspot”