Positioning
Dreams can come true. Julie Lord shares her explanation to clients of what a Financial Planner does and uses two client stories to illustrate the value of what Financial Planning can achieve.
How we explain our role to clients
“What a therapist does for your mental health, or a personal trainer does for your physical health, a Financial Planner does for your financial health.
“We take a wide view of your financial values and goals to help you create the life you want and put your money to work for you. We are part coach, part teacher, part confidante, part project manager and part progress checker.
“We also connect you to other professionals like accountants, if you need tax help, and solicitors if you need to draft a Will or Power of Attorney.
“What we don’t do is investment management or administration of IT or insurance. We outsource all the boring bits so we can concentrate on what we love doing: talking to clients and seeing their plans come to fruition.”
Our role has a pretty wide remit, but that is the great part about it. We can enjoy our chosen profession because it isn’t all about one thing. We can talk to different people about their different interests and dreams for the future and in doing so, be creative about our solutions.
We can also find some great ideas to enhance our own lives along the way.
The best part for me is when the penny drops and clients understand that their dreams can come true.
The Power of Financial Planning
Once I had clients waltzing around my office… or it might have been a foxtrot… but it started when I finished explaining that my clients had sufficient funds to retire immediately at 58 rather than wait until 65.
Their lifetime cashflow forecast showed quite clearly, using conservative assumptions, that they could afford their desired standard of living until they were 105. Reassurance enough for him to resign his engineering post one week later.
Another life changed for the better
Another client was literally working himself to death. Fifteen-hour days were common with lots of foreign travel. He had a poor family life with the exception of mega expensive holidays to assuage his guilt. He had a big salary and all the trappings of wealth but he was overweight, unfit, unfulfilled and unhappy.
His family cashflow forecast, showed that if he sold all his fancy assets and downsized a bit, he could take on a more fulfilling job at a quarter of his salary.
Initially unconvinced, his wife and two sons persuaded him they were more interested in him than his money.
In this case our planning saved his marriage, his relationship with his sons and probably his life.
