Planning & Beyond® - Where financial planning meets human understanding

Text us to share what you found helpful! In this episode of Planning & Beyond®, Ashley talks with Matt Halloran, Chief Evangelist at Zocks, about how AI is changing the way financial advisors work with clients. Ashley and Matt talk through how advisors can use AI to reduce the time spent on notes, follow-up, and other admin tasks that often pull attention away from clients. Matt explains how t...

Text us to share what you found helpful! A prospect sits across from you with a decision to make. Before they share the full truth about their money, their fear, their family, or the choice they keep delaying, they are quietly asking one question: Can I trust you? In this episode of Planning & Beyond® , Ashley sits down with Deirdre Van Nest, keynote speaker and founder of Crazy Good Talks®, t...

Text us to share what you found helpful! A client calls, and the news is big. A terminal diagnosis. A sudden death. A surprise windfall that should feel like good news but somehow doesn't. The plan you built so carefully is no longer the point, and the person in front of you is not the same person who sat in your office last quarter. So what do you actually do in that moment? In this episode,...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You change clothes before a client meeting and feel like you are putting on a costume. Someone asks what you do at a conference and you lead with your title and your AUM, never the parts of your life that matter most. And underneath the professionalism, there is a quiet exhaustion you cannot quite name. In this episode, Ashley talks with Justin Castelli, a...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You've heard the phrase. It shows up in keynotes, LinkedIn posts, firm marketing, and increasingly, your own conversations with prospects. But if someone put you on the spot and asked what "the human side of money" actually means, could you articulate it? And more importantly, could you tell them what to do about it on Monday morning? For the...

Text us to share what you found helpful! A young couple, dressed up for their first real financial planning meeting, sat across from an advisor who asked about retirement, income, and savings. He never asked why they were spending money on travel. He never asked about their immigration status, their mixed marriage, or the fact that two people had just built a life in a country that wasn't the...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You've shown your client the numbers. Multiple times. The plan works, they can afford the house, they have enough to retire, the math is on their side. And yet they keep circling back to the same question, the same hesitation, the same "I just don't know." Sound familiar? In this episode, Ashley sits down with Dr. Kristy Archuleta, Profe...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You've run the numbers. The client can absolutely afford to take time off. And yet they won't. Or they want to, but they're terrified. Or they've mentioned burnout in every meeting for the last two years and still can't pull the trigger. Sabbaticals are showing up more and more in client conversations, and most advisors don't h...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You have clients who love you. You know it. They know it. And yet your referral pipeline is quieter than it should be. Here's the thing — it's probably not about satisfaction at all. According to Phil Bray, founder of the UK-based financial services marketing agency Yardstick, around 96% of clients say they would recommend their advisor in princip...

Text us to share what you found helpful! Have you ever gone over a financial plan with a client, checked every box, and then watched them walk out and implement almost none of it? It's one of the most frustrating experiences in this work — and it's more common than anyone likes to admit. Here's what might actually be happening: your client's nervous system is running the show....

Text us to share what you found helpful! You walk into a client meeting prepared with projections, strategies, and solutions. But something's off. Your client nods at the right moments, signs the paperwork, yet you sense there's a conversation happening beneath the surface that you're not part of. Dr. Michael Thomas, Associate Professor at the University of Georgia and author of Bla...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You've been there. A couple sits across from you in a discovery meeting, and something feels off. Maybe one partner shifts in their seat when you ask about spending patterns. Maybe the other answers too quickly, cutting off their spouse mid-sentence. You can't quite put your finger on it, but your spidey sense is telling you there's more to t...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You know that feeling when you're going through the motions with annual reviews, rinse and repeat conversations, and something just feels off? You're not alone. Even your clients are starting to feel it. Adam Holt, founder and CEO of Asset-Map and recovering financial planner, joins me to talk about what advice delivery needs to look like by 2030....

Text us to share what you found helpful! You've got your CRM humming. Your workflows are tight. Your service calendar is consistent. So why aren't clients more engaged? Here's what most advisors miss: efficiency doesn't equal engagement. A frictionless experience is table stakes, not a differentiator. And if you're only solving for your own pain points instead of what clie...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You know the feeling. A couple walks into your office and you ask about their goals. They say "security" and "freedom" in the same breath, and you're thinking... aren't those kind of opposites? Or a client tells you they value family connection, but their calendar tells a completely different story. These moments highlight some...

Text us to share what you found helpful! What happens when a client couple who's made remarkable progress hits an unexpected setback? In this real-time case consultation, financial planner Jim Grace and I work through exactly this scenario - a couple who went from financial stress to thriving, only to face a sudden income loss that threatens to derail their momentum. This isn't your typi...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You've seen it happen: one partner takes notes while the other zones out. Tension surfaces when discussing spending. Only one person shows up to quarterly reviews. Sound familiar? This episode tackles the messy, emotional work of helping couples navigate money together. I sit down with Heather and Douglas Boneparth, authors of "Money Together,&quo...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You've been to those conferences. Every speaker says "the key to success is asking great questions" - then they stop talking. Maybe they give you one or two magic phrases, but nobody teaches you how to actually have these conversations. In this episode, CFP Jeremy Keil breaks down motivational interviewing (MI) - a framework that transforms h...

Text us to share what you found helpful! You can deliver perfect asset allocations and outperform benchmarks all day long, but here's what Marla Sofer, founder of Knomee, knows after 25 years in financial services: those are just table stakes. The real differentiator—the thing that determines whether a client gives you 10% of their portfolio or becomes all-in—is trust built on deep understand...

Text us to share what you found helpful! When clients miss meetings, avoid financial conversations, or struggle to follow through on planning recommendations, most advisors assume it's about motivation or priorities. Christine Hargrove, PhD and assistant director of the Love and Money Center at UGA, reveals why these behaviors often signal something entirely different: undiagnosed or unaddres...

Text us to share what you found helpful! Most financial advisors are solving the wrong problem. They're obsessing over lead generation when the real issue is lead conversion - and the psychology behind why prospects don't convert reveals everything about building genuine client relationships. Derek Notman, founder and CEO of Couplr, brings a unique perspective shaped by his early work at...

Text us to share what you found helpful! Military families represent one of the most unique and underserved populations in financial planning, bringing layers of psychological complexity that most advisors have never encountered. In this episode, Daniel Kopp, CFP® and military veteran, reveals why serving those who served requires a completely different approach to client relationships and financi...

Text us to share what you found helpful! When clients seem stuck on financial decisions or react emotionally to planning recommendations, there's often more to the story than what shows up on their balance sheet. In this conversation with Meghaan Lurtz, we explore how financial advisors can ethically and effectively understand their clients' money history without overstepping into therap...

Text us to share what you found helpful! Financial success doesn't automatically create life satisfaction—and as a financial advisor, you're uniquely positioned to help clients bridge this gap. Dr. Daniel Crosby, psychologist and behavioral finance expert, reveals how to move beyond traditional planning to help clients create genuine meaning and purpose in their financial lives. This epi...

Text us to share what you found helpful! What if the secret to growing your advisory business isn't in your investment strategy or marketing plan, but in how well you're taking care of yourself? In this eye-opening episode, health coach Stevyn Guinnip reveals the shocking truth about why 92% of people over 40 are in "health debt" and how this directly impacts advisor performanc...