What Do People Want Their Money to Do? Part 2

Mitch Anthony

Last month we explored the struggle many of your clients have in balancing life and money. A health balance results in a healthy ROL™ (Return on Life). We discussed the four cornerstones that make up the foundation of a balanced life: happiness, balance, security, and significance. This month we’ll wrap up our conversation by talking about the four keys to achieving ROL.

Harry Houdini never failed an escape challenge, save one. One day Houdini walked into a jail cell and the door clanged shut behind him. From under his belt Houdini removed a strong and flexible piece of metal. He began to work, but something seemed odd about this particular lock. He worked for 30 minutes with no results.  Frustrated, he labored for another hour and a half. By now he was soaked in sweat and completely exasperated at his inability to pick this lock. Drained from the experience, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure and fell against the door. To his surprise and embarrassment, the door swung open––the door had never been locked! The door was only locked in the mind of Houdini.

We know that it is possible to have prosperity and peace of mind. We have seen those clients who manage their lives and resources in wise counsel and careful protection of life quality. These individuals realize that there are both fiscal and philosophical keys for approaching financial and life decisions that are as good for the soul as they are for the portfolio. Chances are that these individuals are working with a financial advisor who possesses a similar sagacity. If they are not, they are certainly looking for one.

After interviewing many such settled individuals I developed the following list of keys that open up emotional space in our lives and provide more peace of mind. 

Key Number One: Help your clients decide what they want from their money and life by asking them the following important philosophical questions:

• Is your life about making money, or is your money about making a life? 
• What do you want to be when you grow up? 
• How much is your paycheck costing you? 
• If you had all the money you would ever need, what would you do differently?

Key Number Two: Help your clients focus by removing the clutter from their money memory. This freedom comes by:

• Examining the roots of their money behavior
• Looking at lessons they learned about money when they were young 
• Taking an honest assessment of their worst money fears 
• Balancing the books on money mistakes they’ve made in the past

Key Number Three: Help your clients move their money from the fantasy fund to the reality rollover. This is the settling of the emotional/investment ledgers between best intentions and denied reality that helps people to:

• Recover from market hangovers 
• Admit past errors and move past them
• Stop blaming others for traps created by their own greed
• Admit that they often follow the insane herd for fear of getting left behind
• Realize valuable lessons about denial they easily fall into regarding their own financial behavior

Key Number Four: Realize that the bottom line is not a number. The bottom line is quality of life­­––not just quantity of accounts. This realization helps your clients:

• Understand the tether that connects their money and life
• Place a value on what they are willing to pay for security, peace of mind, and anxiety-free living
• Gain permission to do what is good for their life––no matter what any broker, banker, accountant, or advisor may be telling them to the contrary
• Make money a servant and not a god

Many people live their entire lives allowing isolated money thinking to dictate every move, turn, and life-changing circumstance. The end result for those people is stress, frustration, loneliness, and dissatisfaction with what they have gained. Those who have allowed money to exclusively dictate their working life and their decisions regarding retirement later regret not making better use of their most valuable resource––time. We have a world of people who are hungry to learn how to use their money to create quality in their lives and the lives of others. The right relationship with the right kind of financial advisor, one who really gets it, can have a virtual Houdini effect in their life. The doors will swing open toward getting what they always hoped their money would deliver.

Adapted from an article that appeared in the March 2010 issue of “The Integrative Adviser,” published by The Association for Integrative Financial and Life Planning.

Mitch Anthony is the founder and president of The Financial Life Planning Institute, the leading provider of financial life planning tools and programs. 

For more than a decade, Mitch and his team have provided training and development for both individual advisors and major organizations throughout the world. Mitch personally consults with many of the largest and most-recognizable names in the financial services industry on both financial life planning and relationship development.

Mitch has been named one of the financial service industry’s top “Movers & Shakers” for his pioneering work, and is interviewed by the media on a regular basis. The Institute is partnering with both Texas Tech University and the University of Georgia to develop financial life planning programs for their undergraduate programs. Mitch is a popular keynote speaker, columnist for Financial Advisor magazine, and host of the daily radio feature, The Daily Dose, heard on approximately 100 radio stations nationwide.

Mitch is also the author of many groundbreaking books for advisors and consumers, including From the Boiler Room to the Living Room, StorySelling for Financial Advisors, The New Retirementality, Your Clients for Life, and Your Client’s Story. For information on these books and more resources, click here.

Contact him at mitch@mitchanthony.com.

© 2008 Mitch Anthony