Stewardship: Responsibly managing something entrusted to one's care.

Money is not so very complex. Ultimately, it has only four possibilities. We can receive it, save/invest it, spend it or share it. Though their mix is obviously subject to infinite variations, our particular, individual blends will necessarily reflect the qualities of our lives and our life choices.

Receiving it may engage our earning powers. Or it may be the byproducts of saving/investing. Or it may be the consequence of tragedy, luck or inheritance.

By spending it, we access the world's goods and services. For some of us, this is not so pleasant. We cannot get what we need. Or we worry desperately, striving for sufficiency. Others of us can eat our fill, sleep in luxury and play within all the enabled diversions, addressing our miscellaneous needs, real and perceived.

Sharing it means making it available to others without immediate tangible payback. It may engage our families, our tax systems our philanthropy or our businesses.

In all of these, there are choices and implications. Yet, at the end of the day, the money just isn't enough. It never is. Whether getting it, investing it, spending it or sharing it, money is just a part of life and our responses to it.

We all know this. We all also know that each human being is blessed with unique gifts of time and talent, in addition to treasure. They are intertwined. For some, the money is most abundant. For others, money is merely one possible byproduct of our time and talent choices. Still others suffer from profound disconnects within all or each.

(Still others simply don't have much of it or a chance to get much of it. Clearly, this article does not address their issues.)

Our money choices reflect or enable effective use of time and talent. We receive each in trust. They are among our primary assets. When viewed in combination through the same lens, our money choices generate questions of careful and responsible asset management, i.e. stewardship.

Stewardship is an ancient notion. It speaks to mindful, personal management of these three. It speaks to accepting personal responsibility for our lives and the simple fact that these assets are within our individual control. "Stewardship" does not deny that our lots in life are different. "Stewardship" does not require acceptance of any truth other than the simple fact of one's own glorious but transitory existence and a sense of responsibility to make best use of it. From there, "Stewardship" does, in fact, demand that we look at this life's realities to determine our peculiar existential challenges and our varying responses to them.

So, how does each of us respond to such questions as: How should I live? Why do I live? Who am I? What does it mean to live life well? In grace? To appreciate my gifts? To walk humbly yet leave the world a better place? To use what I have in this life to the best of my abilities, preferences and inclinations? To be "productive?" To be the best "me" I can be? How do I become a thoughtful and grateful steward of that which has been "entrusted to my care?" How do I use my time on this planet? How do I best use my talents? "To be or not to be ..."

My best guess is that these questions, in some form or another, have plagued thoughtful humans for as long as humans have been thoughtful. Philosophers, poets, theologians, playwrights and authors pontificate about them. They occupy dinner tables, taxi cabs, talk shows, bar stools, classrooms and meditation retreats. They consume sleepless nights, disrupt the tasks of the day and generally generate an inarticulate chaos for far too many of us. How might I best live this life of mine?

Now depersonalize these questions to anticipate the issues that plague our clients, particularly those blessed by substantial treasure but few clues as to how to use it most effectively.

Enter financial planning. Think. It is so apt for this challenge. Since our profession's inception we have been addressing our client's "goals and objectives." We have been discovering "assets" and "liabilities." We have been identifying issues and problems, then suggesting resolutions and action steps. We have been reviewing actions taken and imposing accountability. Truthfully, any honest assessment of "assets" necessarily includes review of time and their talents. From there, it is a short step to considering this whole issue of personal stewardship.

OK, OK. This is this eternal Boy Scout's version. At best it is an idealized expansion of so much that has passed with just a nod and wink under the financial planning aegis. Nonetheless, I suggest it is but small departure from our most honored notions of best practice. It simply mixes purely financial focus with purpose, capability and self-perception. True, it expands upon "goals" in manners not taught on the CFP® exam. Yet, with the new attention being focused upon the interior-including notions of wisdom, "life planning," and the soul/money dialectic-our own best principles and practices send us logically down the path of purposeful stewardship and assisting our clients with its address.

So, what does this mean? How might we explore helping our clients face the living tests of traditional stewardship issues? Indeed, how do we explore our own stewardship?

Brief diversion to reality: Obviously, not all of us are ready for this. It takes us beyond our familiars. Accordingly, many of us will not want to do this work for an array of reasons. No problem. Not all doctors do heart surgery or become psychiatrists.

However, on the "make a living" side, I assure you that huge numbers of people are looking for help integrating their tangibles and intangibles healthfully and productively. They are not looking for therapy; they are looking for someone to help them make sense of their assets and assist them with healthful stewardship.

I suggest we are just the people to give it to them. I further suggest the efficacy of a financial service/product designed to address these issues- a "Stewardship Policy." Comparable to an investment policy, different from "coaching," it generates a document within a limited process. It is of finite duration. It is a document of decision.

A Stewardship Policy engages self-governance. As with a financial plan, it addresses money issues. As with an investment policy, it asserts discipline and self-authority. Unlike a financial plan or an investment policy, it also addresses the client's time and talent in addition to money.

In other words, a Stewardship Policy is a document of wisdom, not just craft. In my opinion, a Stewardship Policy need not engage in the technical-although reasonable people can certainly disagree. Rather, it looks at the client's unique issues and intangibles, then puts them into highly personalized contexts.

We are developing the tools. Within integralism, the "Life Planning" movement, individual workshops and objective assessment instruments, from psychology to sociology and broad analytical conceptions like AQAL and Spiral Dynamics, we are beginning to generate improved interior approaches. Between them, seemingly esoteric theory generates new, appropriate instruments and processes. These, in turn, enable new possibilities for products and services. "Woo-woo" becomes "whoa" or "wow." We can look for the truths in all of these individual approaches. Combined, they will help us to develop the skills and processes most appropriate to the needs of individual practitioners.

This "Stewardship Policy" document/process uses integral principles together with the basic financial planning process to help clients realistically merge realities with possibilities to make solid, current decisions. It is not a philanthropy policy. Philanthropy cannot be presupposed. Neither is it the sort of financial plan "we" have "always" done. It includes too much of the nonfinancial. Rather, it is a mutable policy document of committed self-governance. Specifically, implementation and consequences are the client's fundamental responsibility-not the advisor's.

Its creation and scope constitute a living process. Things change as both client and relationship mature. It is also a process that recognizes that relationship's end.

In my experience, integralism provides an effective approach to stewardship policies and their developmental processes. The filters enabled by application of holonic principles and spiral dynamics levels encourage thorough reviews of client assets, issues, problems, possibilities and goals.

Most important, clients must take the stewardship processes seriously. This means mutual understandings of commitments and responsibilities. This is a product for adults. It may not work for clients who need a lot of handholding.

Obviously, we cannot take financial survival for granted. Accordingly, it is critical to grasp the client's financial basics. Then, we can go to work on understanding the client.

What is their relationship with their family? Which part of their family? Parents? Children? Obligations? Limitations? What has been successful for them? How was their money generated? If their money has come via inheritance, how was it originally earned? How did their forebears act in their worlds? What were their prevailing qualities? What can they learn from this or observe about themselves?

How were they raised? What sort of education? How do they choose to spend their time? What is important to them? Do they need to work for money? How is their health? What is their relationship to money? What is their philosophy of life? What is holding them back? What are their talents? What has been successful? Have they had unique experiences?

What are their ideals? What would they like to accomplish in life? Why are they seeking your help? What has been in the way? Who are their other advisors, including therapists? What subjects ought to remain the province of the therapist? (A "Stewardship Policy" is not therapy. At best, "Stewardship" is to "Therapy" as snorkeling is to scuba diving.)

What is their personal touchstone statement? What would be true about them regardless of circumstances? If they had twenty-four hours to live, what would they regret about their lives?

The point is to listen, then reflect back what you hear of her heart's core.

The last section of the "Stewardship Plan" includes "Action Steps." This means personal commitments.

The experience should be profound. The client ought to have had an extraordinary experience of self-encounter and perspective. They can be "heard" as never before. They are able to reflect upon another's mirroring. It is not therapy. It is not judgment. It is high quality listening, reflecting and dignity.

Obviously, this requires something special of the advisor. This is not for rookies but for people who, themselves, have engaged in intensive introspection and personal work. You cannot take clients where you have not gone.

If you, personally, do not have a strong sense of stewardship, please do us all a favor and decline to do this work until you, yourself, are ready.

Anybody who uses this as a "bait and switch" sales tool... well, shame on you. When doing this sort of work, we, especially, are stewards ourselves.

Time. Treasure. Talent. Life's purpose, engagement of the divine in each of us, bringing our best to the dance and helping others do so for themselves- this is good work. It is appropriate that it be done by people well versed in assessing assets and liabilities, grasping goals, perceiving problems, working with money, determining implementation parameters and serving the goals and objectives of others. It is a terrific service. What better for clients concerned about how they are living their lives and their relationship with that which has been entrusted to them? Surely, the world needs more of such as these.

Stewardship work profoundly integrates life and money. It is an ideal extension of the financial planner's art and wisdom.

Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP, is the principal of WorthLiving LLC, based in Denver. He is the 2003 recipient of the Financial Planning Association's P. Kemp Fain Jr. Award, which recognizes a member who has made outstanding contributions to the profession.