Thriving and not Surviving
It’s clear to me, and very likely to you, that ‘retirement income planning’ is our profession's greatest challenge and, conversely, our greatest opportunity. All roads lead to it.
Most clients seek advice around the time they wake up, petrified that they will run out of money in retirement. Yesterday, they might have been endlessly scrolling through vacation deals or considering an upgrade to their barely-used car. Today, they're sitting across from an adviser, fearful of running out of money during retirement.
“Help! We don’t know how to plan our retirement income.”
Of course, they don’t articulate it in these words, but this is their real issue, their underlying challenge. They’re more likely to be asking questions like, “What interest will I get with your investments?”, and “What do you charge?”.
They’re out of their comfort zones, they’ve never done this before and you’re scary. Instead of getting lost in ill-informed questions, it’s our job to immediately divert these questions and get them back in the real world by asking them the meaningful questions:
"What does a successful retirement look like to you?"
"How much would you think you’ll spend each month if you were to have a financially successful retirement?”
We’ll have time to get to the financial plumbing later. But first, by engaging clients in a conversation tailored to their specific lifestyles, we can create a solid foundation for building their financial future.
If it’s clear that they are open to our help, we can start to challenge their misconceptions about who we are, what we do and most importantly, what we don’t do. I’m sensing more and more people prefer a direct, honest approach in this world of fluff.
I want the clients I work with to create wealth. I’m not embarrassed about this, I don’t see the need to sugar-coat it. I’m happy when clients substantially increase their wealth as a result of my noble work. For me, wealth is freedom, and freedom is opportunity. You have permission to do the same with your clients and to hold your head high.
We have no idea what challenges our clients will face in which more wealth would only be a blessing. Support their children and their grandchildren, support causes they care about, cover unexpected medical conditions, and afford a care home in their final years. If our clients have a problem that money can fix, they don’t have a problem. I firmly believe that living without money worries will also increase life expectancy, how can it not?
I want my clients to thrive financially and not just survive. As the years roll on, I’m becoming more and more disillusioned with portfolios of a multi-asset-mess (MAM). The wonder that is global equities has produced spectacular annual compound returns that are available to all who have the psychological makeup to act proactively on an investment plan and remain disciplined (if not calm) throughout all market cycles. Interestingly, these one-fund-wonders I refer to have now been classified as 4 out of 7’s on the risk scale by most fund houses. Bang in the sweet spot for your compliance functions to be delighted.
Creating wealth is ridiculously simple, but it’s also incredibly hard once humans get involved. Your job is to create wealth for the families you serve. You do this by creating robust investment portfolios that will weather all cycles and produce the returns such portfolios deliver.
However you earn your fee (percentage, fixed, or a mix thereof), every golden coin your receive is to ensure your client sticks with the plan, gets out of their own way and allows what we know has always worked to do just that, work.
Eye on the prize, my fellow advisers. Make sure your clients aren’t exposed to the silent risk of low returns. You're better than that.
