I couldn’t help but wonder about this client's wife? If he’s married then his wife needs to be there. Values Based Financial Planning™ is for couples, unless the person is single. For couples, the Goals Conversation™ is a collaborative discussion about what they want to do and have for the future. Everyone who has a future has goals. It’s unlikely that his wife would have also struggled to answer a question about goals. But, let’s say that your client is single and has trouble answering the question about goals. I would say something like: “If you don’t have any goals or reasons to hang on to your money, then let’s talk about who you want to give all of your money to.” He’ll probably say something like, “What are you talking about? I don’t want to give all of money away.” Advisor: Interesting. If you don’t have any goals then you don’t have any reason to keep your money. You are about to become a very popular person in the community. He’ll get it.The bottom line is that some people...

I don’t advise suggesting goals. If I ask someone what their goals and they don’t have many, I just work with what they have. If they don’t have any, we don’t work together at all. If they really do have goals, it should become very apparent in the Implementation Meeting or a subsequent Progress Meeting™ when you aren’t organizing their finances in a way that provides them any money for anything other than the goals they told you about. And if they want money for something else that’s a new goal. My advice is that you reserve spots in your Ideal Client Community only for interesting people who have plenty of goals, plenty of money, and are excited to tell you about them. Maybe it’s time to revisit your Ideal Client Profile?

You can combine them.

It’s usually a separate date for each, unless they combine the fund or pool of money for both, which is okay also.

This is a bit tricky because I could go either way on this one. On the one hand, I understand what you mean that they brought it up during the Values Conversation™, so offering it as a goal when that time comes seems like an okay thing to do. On the other hand, if it’s so important, why didn’t they mention it when you asked about their goals that require money and planning to achieve? You want clients who follow your advice, but you don’t want to have to think for them. In the end, you can’t care more about someone’s future than they care about it themselves.

Keep in mind that you are building an Ideal Client Community. Wouldn’t a person who meets your Ideal Client Profile be able to set goals and think of everything that’s relevant for them to have the life they want? And remember, you are building and Ideal CLIENT community. You don’t want customers.

Keep in mind, that this is NOT a sales process. Values Based Financial Planning™ is a filtering process to help you identify clients who will be good fit in your community of clients. Obviously, people with unattainable goals cannot possibly be the right fit for your community. There are several things you can do after the All the Money Conversation™ when you discover that a goal is not attainable. And, keep in mind; you don’t really know if a goal is attainable until you see their whole financial picture. 1. Ask, “Is this everything?” Perhaps they forgot a document that represents enough money to make the goals attainable. 2. Ask, “Are you expecting an inheritance or some other financial windfall? a. I once listened to a Financial Road Map Interview™ of an advisor we coach and the husband said, “I am due to win the lottery.” And he wasn’t kidding. He took a solid 2 minutes to explain his system for playing the lottery, how long he had been applying this system, and why we...

The “NOW” box is the net number from the math you did during the All The Money™ exercise. It’s never more than one number. Nothing goes in the “BE” box.

This question is not about the monetary value they have gotten from their Financial Road Map® experience. It’s about the emotional pay-off and intrinsic value from having the discussions that completed their Financial Road Map® and having that all documented on the Financial Road Map® in front of them now. A discussion about how much you charge and what they get is triggered by the Commitment to Hire Conversation. ™ Module 2: Introduction to FRM Pg. 26-27

For a person, at any age, who has already accomplished a goal they likely want continue to enjoy the benefits of having achieved that goal. For example, once a person has achieved a goal of being financially independent it is likely their new goal is be financially independent forever. They may also like the idea of planning to distribute money in different ways and these are goals. For example: give $10,000 / year to charity. Have a fund set aside of $100,000 to distribute to children, grandchildren, or other family member as needed. An annual vacation fund of $50,000. Re-decorate the house every 5 years fund of $. Etc. The assumption that old, rich people don't have goals is a mistake many Financial Advisors make. Don't be one of them.

Current lifestyle is funded from cash flow. Future goals from savings and investments. Only a person who is no longer working and living off their assets will have a goals related to “maintaining our lifestyle” which would be funded from assets.

If you find yourself in the position where you selected the more dominant to go first and then the less dominant person says, "My answers are the same as his or hers." Cover up the completed Values Staircase with a piece of paper or a notecard and then say, "They may turn out to be very similar, but the purpose of the exercise is to discuss each of your perspectives about money and hear what YOU have to say in your own words. So..... , What's... important.... about money... to YOU?"

I have several ideas that might be helpful for you. 1. Do NOT "create a slide." Values-Based Financial Planning is deliberately "low-tech." You want the focal point to be between you and them, not you talking while they look at a screen. And MOST DEFINITELY do not add anything to the front of the Financial Road Map interview before the Values Conversation! 2. Keep in mind that you are building an IDEAL Client Community. Ideal Clients DEFINITELY have goals without prompting and coaching. 3. Why would even a non-Ideal Client meet with a Financial Advisor if they have no reason for doing so? Those reasons are goals. It's especially hard for me to imagine, after a couple has just talked about what's important to them, that they draw a blank about the tangible things that want to have / do that require money and planning to achieve. Listen to your Financial Road Map® Interview recordings and pay particular attention to how well you are following the script. Perhaps something...

I agree. I would do the Quality of Life™ enhancer exercise as an interactive exercise facilitated by you. Mark Little creates the agendas for the Progress Meetings. You might ask him what his process and thinking is for this. Until you are consistently.... like for 20 weeks in a row... having 15 - 20 hours a week of Client Acquisition time on your calendar AND HONORING IT I recommend that you don't even think about the Quality of Life™ enhancer exercise.

I recommend doing the Quality of Life™ Enhancer Exercise in-person.

I recommend doing the Quality of Life™ Enhancer Exercise during a Progress Meeting in one of two scenarios: 1) As a response to a trigger where the client is not letting go of keeping tabs on the market, reading financial periodicals, watching financial TV, listening to Financial radio shows, and / or wanting to have conversations with you about politics, markets, the economy, world events, etc. The Quality of Life™ Enhancer Exercise will help them realize that there is a finite amount of time that can be better spent on something more important. 2) When you are so far down the path with some of your Ideal Clients that your Progress Meetings are running like a Swiss Watch so efficiently that you have time to do something extra and fun. Until you are consistently.... like for 20 weeks in a row... having 15 - 20 hours a week of Client Acquisition time on your calendar AND HONORING IT I recommend that you don't even think about the Quality of Life Enhancer exercise.

Just relax and let them say whatever they say when you ask the question. Some people need to express the tangible before they move up the staircase into their values. Remember, this conversation is meant to be pleasant and enjoyable for them, not a forced march up their Values Staircase™ or an interrogation. Listen to your recordings.

As your client's financial advisor it's your job to give them the best advice. If the best advice is to keep the mortgage then give them that advice. There are also emotional considerations for any goal and debt, especially, can have some powerful emotional motivations. If you have a client who despises having any debt and paying it off will not inhibit the achievement of their other goals then the emotional benefit to the client may outweigh the technical "financial sense" of keeping the low interest debt.

(a) as many goals as they have (usually 2 or 3 is how many they have) and (b) Let them work it out and / or ask expanding and clarifying questions to help. One sign that a couple is an Ideal Client is their ability to work through disagreements in a constructive manner and come to a conclusion.

The occasional long Financial Road Map® interview happens. Unless your experience is that all of your Financial Road Map® Interviews are taking this long, I wouldn't worry about it. Hopefully, after a 2 hour Financial Road Map®, you either added a new Ideal Client or generated substantial survival revenue.