![]() We sort of forgot where we are in the process. Just this morning, I got an email from somebody saying, “We’re so sorry that we haven’t returned your email. There is a check box for each, so as we continue to meet with the client, we can review the progress that everyone has made. This checklist is given to clients and it includes a timeline of who needs to do what and by what date the implementation item needs to be done. Within that summary document, we present our implementation checklist ( download sample checklist). Of course, we’d love the process to be four neat and concise consecutive meetings, but typically it’s probably six meetings before clients actually have our written summary and before they pay the second half of our retainer, because we want to make sure they’re satisfied with the plan. In the final step, we present the blueprint, the written summary of their financial plan. And then we give our preliminary suggestions. In the third step, we do what we call “uncovering the disconnects.” We go over their goals, the data, and we present any disconnects we’ve uncovered. That’s us confirming that we have all the appropriate data. And that’s where MoneyGuide Pro comes into play, because we can input everything from insurance to pensions to Social Security to all their investments, and it does asset allocation, risk management, and estate planning. The second step involves reviewing and analyzing all of the hard data that someone has given us. And we review and update goals throughout the years, making sure they are still the things that are important to them. That reminds them that we are really paying attention to what is important to them. When they come back in for the second meeting, they actually see their goals up on the screen. We do a lot of work up front, uncovering what’s important to the client. We would sit in my office and I would certainly have MoneyGuide Pro up, but we would also cover the first stage of our process, which is called the “mutual alignment agreement.” This first step is all about goals. Let’s say we were walking a client through the process from the beginning. Of course, this software is part of a bigger planning process we use. The 4-step Financial Clarity Advantage planning process It’s on a wall mount so I can move it depending on where we’re sitting. ![]() So I’ve actually put a big screen TV in my own personal office. We have five advisors in our office, and this became so popular that we started fighting over the conference room. They get to a point where they say, “I see why you work with Scott, I see how this works and how it will affect us in the long term.” I see the light bulbs come on. ![]() But what I’ve found is the person who’s normally less engaged becomes extremely engaged when they go through this interactive process. Here’s another benefit: Normally, in couples, one of the clients is more engaged than the other. When the client comes in, we just walk through it and I change certain items that may be of interest to them, run the analysis, and show them how it affects their long-term numbers. And each time we meet, there are things that we’re changing, not just their ages and the markets, but goals, needs, concerns. It really helps clients understand that financial planning is a process, not a transaction. But now, I’ll do the input interactively I’ll pull up MoneyGuide Pro and show it on the TV screen and input data in front of my clients and walk them through the planning. Previously, I would input clients’ data ahead of time and show them a printed version of the document generated through MoneyGuide Pro. In my new location, we have a large conference room where we can hook up a laptop so that it shows on a large TV screen. Recently, when we split from our old firm and opened up our own RIA, I started using the program interactively with clients. ![]() Initially, I only used it behind the scenes, but it has become a major piece in our financial planning process. I’ve been using MoneyGuide Pro, a goal-based financial planning software program, for close to 10 years. I hope that speaks to our clients, to helping them understand that a big part of our job is to add clarity to all of the confusing items that they may have in their financial lives. We call our financial planning process the Financial Clarity Advantage. ![]()
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