The implications for financial advisors are numerous and significant.
The conclusion of Ken's work is pretty simple: People are living longer, in many cases longer or much longer than they ever thought they would. Ken describes this as the "longevity bonus." And he asks you and your clients this very important question, "When do you want to spend your longevity bonus?" According to Dr. Dychtwald, people want to spread their longevity bonus over their remaining lifetime, not save it for the end.
Your clients are redefining what it means to "retire." Their thinking about what they do with their life, their time and their money is changing. This means you have to be more adaptable in your planning as your clients adjust when they choose to retire, how they choose to spend their non-work time and how much it will cost.
What about you? How will you spend your longevity bonus? You are in an amazing business that allows you to earn all the money you need to pay for your present lifestyle, have time freedom and help people. It's a perfect business to spend your longevity bonus by adjusting your work schedule and taking more time off every week, month, quarter or year.
Jim Cathcart, a legend around the NSA who is author of the books Relationship Selling and The Acorn Principle, has said many profound and powerful things in his long career of helping others succeed. My personal favorite is, "The future you see defines the person you must be." In other words, you will only be as successful to the degree you have a clear vision about your future, and your future vision of success will be the driving force for you to become the person and FA you need to become in order to make that future happen.
I realize that you drink from a fire hose of information every day, mostly about things that are outside of your control. As mentioned earlier: volatile financial markets, broken governments, weak economy, life in a chaotic world-and prospects and clients who are struggling to make sense of it all. Create a vision for yourself and your business that inspires you to become who you need to become so you can have the life and the business you really want, regardless of external events outside of your control. Learn more about Jim at www.jimcathcart.com.
Are you fascinating? Sally Hogshead, the Chief Fascination Officer, thinks you should know how fascinating you are now and learn how you can be more fascinating. That's why she created the F Score test. According to Sally, there are seven fascination triggers: Power. Passion. Prestige. Mystique. Alarm. Rebellion. Trust. Go to www.fscoretest.com to learn more about how you naturally persuade and captivate. It's not just fascinating, it could help you achieve your goals.
Mike Rayburn and Dan Thurmon were two of the five 2011 inductees into the Professional Speaker Hall of Fame. In the NSA world, this is a BIG deal. Mike Rayburn has been called the "world's funniest guitar virtuoso." While he is definitely very funny and truly a guitar virtuoso, the way Mike can help you be a more successful FA is by challenging you to seriously consider the question, "What if?" It's a simple little question that can be very creatively and powerfully applied to your business and your life. Pick up a copy of his book, What If? at www.MikeRayburn.com.
While you're there, order one of Mike's CDs to hear a unique brand of comedy and music that is sure to make your day ... even on a day when the Dow's off a few hundred (or thousand) points. What if you really can create your ideal life by building an ideal business exclusively with ideal clients? What if ...?
Dan Thurmon has a unique approach to achieving life balance: Forget about it! Instead, he proposes that you live your life "off balance on purpose." Every day, we are inundated with messages about the importance of finding "balance" in our lives. How does this make us feel? Overwhelmed, out of touch and unfulfilled. The problem isn't us-it's the message. Perfect balance is unachievable and, upon closer inspection, undesirable. The perpetual quest for balance ends up limiting growth, progress and the quality of life.