When it comes to the bottom line for your clients, it’s not just a number: It’s not about how much they have as much as it is about getting the best life possible with the money they have.
In Life Centered Financial Planning, the book I co-authored with Paul Armson, we introduce readers to the “Return on Life Manifesto.” It’s a tool you can share with your clients to let them know you understand that priorities change, and that financial planning is so much more than a one-and-done event. The manifesto includes several words for advisors to live by:
1. Money is simply a tool.
2. Comparative measures are neither helpful nor necessary in making progress.
3. Progress must be personalized.
4. The primary measure of success for our clients is “Return on Life,” or ROL.
5. The ways we’re compensated require absolute transparency.
6. You can provide quality and value to a limited number of clients.
7. We are stewards of wealth, not owners.
8. The greatest value you can bring to your clients is to bridge their means with their meaning.
9. You should not entrust your clients’ well-being to anyone who does not put their interests ahead of their own.
10. An ROL advisor has a calling, not just a job.
As we tarry for some sense of return to “normal,” it’s a great time to remind your clients that you’re there to help them focus on their priorities and reach their goals—and that you’re more than a money manager. You’re their fiscal philosopher: there to deliver reality checks and planning to help them live the best life possible with the money they have.
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need to appreciate what we have and plan for the future … while taking full advantage of the present.
Mitch Anthony is the creator of Life-Centered Planning, the author of 12 books for advisors, and the co-founder of ROLadvisor.com and LifeCentered Planners.com.