If your most important clients could grade you on the following listening skills report, how well would you score? My advisor gives his/her undivided attention when I am talking. A B C D E My advisor is tuned into me rather than thinking of his/her own response. A B C D E My advisor answers [...]
During the past year and a half (and counting), I don’t know anyone whose life hasn’t been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many of us have experienced epiphanies and made positive changes to our lives. While not dismissing the terrible toll the pandemic has taken on many of us, I think it’s [...]
Originally posted at fa-mag.com by Mitch Anthony, March 1, 2022. During the past year and a half (and counting), I don’t know anyone whose life hasn’t been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of us have experienced epiphanies and made positive changes to our lives as a result. While not dismissing the toll the pandemic [...]
‘Where should I live and what am I going to do?’ Investment performance is important, but there’s so much more Originally posted at Marketwatch.com by Richard Eisenberg, March 19, 2022. Retirement is one of the Top 10 most stressful life events, according to the psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe. As someone who recently began [...]
Originally posted at straitstimes.com by The Straits Times, April 25, 2021. (NYTIMES) - Ms. Dani Rizzo and Mr. Adam Hoyt are diligently saving for retirement. They are putting away money each month and monitoring their .vestments. They are looking ahead, as a couple, and trying to be socially responsible. She is 33, and he is [...]
Originally posted at rgj.com by Brian Loy, the Reno Gazette Journal, April 28, 2021. I used to think that 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 years old every day until 2030 was astounding. However, that rate is only going to increase with subsequent generations from 11,000 a day for Gen X to 12,500 a day for millennials, [...]
Originally posted at fa-mag.com by Mitch Anthony, May 1, 2021. Last year I was approached by two professionals with an interesting idea for a social experiment with retirees. One of the men was a serial entrepreneur named Bob Ahmann. The other was a retired engineer named Darryl Solie (I say “retired,” but he’s always involved [...]
When most consumers purchase an item or service, they do comparative shopping. If it’s a house, you go online and search for comparable properties. The same can be said when shopping for a car or a household appliance. When I speak in front of a group of financial advisors, I’ll often ask them, “How many [...]
Originally posted at napfamindsetmastery.libsyn.com.com by NAPFA, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, March 1, 2021. In Episode #13 of Mindset Mastery, “Hard Times Call for Soft Skills,” best-selling author and long-time leader of the Life Centered Financial Planning movement, Mitch Anthony, talks with Mindset Mastery host Marie Swift about resiliency, positive psychology, and how [...]
Originally posted at nytimes.com by John F. Wasik, New York Times, March 6, 2021. The number of centenarians in the U.S. is growing steadily. If you join them, you’ll need not just a robust retirement fund but also a plan, and a purpose. Dani Rizzo and Adam Hoyt are diligently saving for retirement. They’re putting [...]
Originally posted at journaltimes.com by Justus Morgan, Financial Service Group, Inc., March 7, 2021. I'd like to start with a confession I’ve wanted to make for a while. When I write a column, I intentionally leave out information. It’s not that I have a burning desire to lead you astray but rather I have a [...]
Originally posted at fa-mag.com by Mitch Anthony, March 1, 2021. What does the clock say, Bapa?” asked my granddaughter Aryela for the third time in the last minute. “It says 4:42, honey.” We were dyeing eggs, and the instructions said to let them soak for seven minutes. We were one minute in, and the hands [...]
Originally posted at fa-mag.com by Mitch Anthony, December 1, 2020. What do you do when you find yourself succeeding financially but it just doesn’t seem like enough? When you want to practice real financial planning instead of superficial forms with products attached? When you want to really service your clients and make a lasting impact [...]
Life-Centered Financial Planning Essentials: How Much is “Enough”? What’s the ultimate aim of a financial planner, specifically one who is practicing life-centered financial planning? Contrary to what the industry would have everyone believe, it’s not to beat the market—it’s to help clients get and keep the life they want. Life-centered financial planners are tasked with [...]
Life-Centered Financial Planning Essentials: Would You Invest in the Companies You’re Recommending to Clients? Do you want to invest in companies that you are proud of? I’m sure your response was, “Of course!” But truth be told, most us haven’t been paying attention. It just makes sense to reward companies that reward their employees, their [...]
Life-Centered Financial Planning Essentials: Why One Retirement Plan Does Not Fit All Not all people retire well. Some people can’t retire soon enough: their workplace, their coworkers, and their workload are literally killing them. On the other end of the spectrum, some people will never retire because who they are and what they do are [...]
Life-Centered Financial Planning Essentials: Don’t Start the Conversation with Goals Have you ever asked a client what his or her goals are, only to be met with a deer-in-the-headlights response? Most people are so caught up in the present that they haven’t yet framed a portrait for the future. Goals are an important conversation, but [...]
Life-Centered Financial Planning Essentials: Focus on Behaviors that Produce Results The core question driving the advice and planning world has been, “Do you or will you have enough money?” Little wonder then that advisors spend so much time validating allocations, investments, and returns, thereby creating a never-ending cul-de-sac dynamic where they must constantly justify how [...]
Life-Centered Financial Planning Essentials: Understanding Your Client’s Journey How did your clients come by their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and habits around money? By chance or by happenstance? To arrive at an answer requires a unique skill set—that of a biographer. In fact, your competence regarding discovery comes down to developing this biographical competency with your [...]
Life-Centered Financial Planning Essentials: Client Reality Check Your clients want—and need—a reality check from you: Reality Check 1: Your clients need to know where their money is going. That means conducting a lifetime cash flow analysis with your clients. Reality Check 2: Your clients need to be responsible for their own assumptions. Reality Check 3: [...]