Many retired clients do not have debt or a need for additional life insurance or they are not insurable. How detailed should we get if the client has sufficient income to cover all living expenses and the only area we could assist with is their current investment portfolio.

Article ID: 215

Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

Completely detailed. Comprehensive. Everything. Regardless of someone’s age or economic position, there are 139 things that need to be addressed in order for them to have their financial house in order and keep it that way, forever. Life insurance and debt are two of them. I appreciate that you were trained to think like an asset-gathering investment advisor and I’m excited that you have discovered the real world of truly comprehensive financial services. Stay on the path that we teach and you will soon be acquiring new Ideal Clients from the plethora of Financial Advisors who think like asset-gathering investment advisors.

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What do you say is the value to continue paying a fee for advice? What do I provide? What is the WOW factor that I can provide ?

A former client referred a guy (call him Bill) to me a couple weeks ago. Bill and I spoke on the phone and scheduled an appointment at my office, at which I intended to complete a Financial Road Map® for him. Bill arrived without the documents I asked him to bring. He had actually completed a Financial Road Map® many years ago but was not working with that advisor. As I started through the script, he was reluctant to proceed. I told him that I wasn`t interested in wasting his time and that we could end the appointment. He said he wanted to ask questions of me first and then we could later complete his Financial Road Map® - presumably if I answered his questions well enough. If I was at the point in my Values-Based Financial Planning™ journey that I was only accepting Ideal Clients, I probably would have not even started the meeting because he failed to bring his documents. However, prior to that time I need Survival Clients. So how do I handle the `I have questions for you before we get to the Roadmap stuff`?

I have several existing clients and prospects that have zero debt and range typically from $3-$10 million in liquid net worth. Many of them have believed in “Term and invest the rest” mentality and therefore don't like to discuss insurance needs and their term policies have expired. By this, I'm referring to clients who are past the accumulation phase and confident in their mind that they have been adequately insured and no longer need much insurance (I realize this may not be true), and have the notion typically to only buy term and put the rest of their money into savings. When we get to the Commitment to Hire Conversation™. Many of my existing clients have zero debt, more cash then they need to have sitting around (I realize this needs to be addressed), and don't feel they need much help with insurance. Therefore the step-by-step plan addressing these four areas only has one area where they typically want, or feel, they need help in creating a plan. I'm curious if it would it make sense to change the "What you get” discussion to something that could provide a little more value than the 4 bullets currently in the script? Can you please tell me perhaps a different word track then the Financial Road Map® script since two of the four areas are not of much interest to these types of clients?

Do you always scan or copy the documents that the clients bring with them?

I have long-time clients who, for the most part, have been completing Financial Road Maps® with me. When I get to Commitment to Implement Conversation™ section, I haven't been asking for that firstly because I cannot charge a hard dollar fee and secondly, if I had a form for them to sign, the form would basically not have meaning as I work for Merrill Lynch and they would not approve of a form that the client to sign for implementing a plan. How do I handle this?

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