This approach is based on the teachings of Maslow, who said we must meet people at the point of their needs before we can make progress with them. The conversation begins by allowing the client to point out which words they are currently focused on when they think of money, which helps them communicate their actual money needs. Next, you can explore how they would like to allocate toward these various needs from all their sources of income.
Soft words and hard numbers need to meet in a single conversation if we want to find out where our clients are at in their walk with money. Discovering means as well as meaning is what we might call a more mature money conversation.
©2010 Mitch Anthony. All rights reserved. Mitch is the president of the Financial Life Planning Institute and Advisor Insights Inc. He is an industry leader in training advisors on building life-centered relationships.