The Human Side of Money

Most financial advisors’ meetings are underwhelming. They typically include a mix of small talk, dialogue, fact-finding, and a less-than-riveting display of numbers and charts. It’s the main reason why prospects leave your office and don’t respond for months (if ever), despite the fact that they need help. And you knew you could help them. It’s also the main reason that you...

Trust is the foundation of success in financial advice. You need trust to get prospects to become clients and you need trust to get clients to follow-through and do the things you ask them to do. Without trust, you have no business. But, if you know how to consistently build trust with both prospects and clients, it will take your relationships AND your business to places very few things can. Ever...

The perfect plan is rendered useless in the absence of execution. Or, as Dr. Moira Somers says: “What’s the point of technically proficient advice if the client won’t act on it?” You would think that providing someone a step-by-step plan to accomplish their goals would be all that’s needed to spur someone into action. But, anyone that works with people and their money...

The Human Side of Money in 2023: Released 35 episodes Crossed over 100k downloads (and almost 200k!) Delivered 2,517 minutes of content on the human side of advice Inside those 35 episodes and 2,517 minutes lie countless ideas, insights, and nuggets that will do two things: Enhance and enrich your clients’ lives and forever change the trajectory of your business and career. But, there were c...

There’s a critical mistake made by almost every advisor around the world every single day. We focus more on the plan than the person. More on what we do than what they need. Our natural approach is plan-centric. Meanwhile, the industry is shifting towards human-first financial guidance. Fortunately, Ross Marino embraced this shift long ago and built a firm that specializes in human-first fin...

Lack of follow-through and implementation of advice is a widespread problem. One study revealed this gut-wrenching stat: 70% of clients implement less than 20% of financial planning recommendations. There are a number of reasons to explain this. A primary reason is that advisors deliver advice that looks good on a spreadsheet, but it doesn’t fit into real life.  If you can design your advice...

In 2012, Shaun Erickson founded Single Point Partners because he wanted to do something different. As a solo advisor at the time, his primary focus was on building a process with one main focus: Building it around the client’s agenda (a.k.a. – the things that matter most to the client). Fast forward to 2023, and his focus has shifted. Now, he’s focused on building a human-first a...

Mastering the human side of advice will: Enrich your clients’ lives Enhance your relationships with clients Forever change the trajectory of your business/career Think it sounds too good to be true? Listen to these 7 stories from advisors around the world sharing how the human side has made their clients and their practice infinitely better off. To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter fo...

Your client isn’t just the person sitting in front of you today. It’s who they’ll become 30 years from now. And, it’s who they were 30 years ago. They might be making a decision in the present. But, their decisions in the present are shaped by the experiences of their past and influenced by their vision of the future. When you work with human beings and money, it’s cr...

It’s one thing for advisors to say they want to get better at the human side. It’s another thing to actually start making changes to your processes and conversations. And, it’s another thing entirely to have your entire meeting process and deliverables focused on the human side. Yet, that’s exactly what Jake Northrup has done. At his firm, Experience Your Wealth, Jake has m...

Let’s face it…most advisors’ meetings with long-term clients are lackluster. You ask about life, the kids, any changes in their life, etc. Then, you tell them that everything looks good. They’re still on track. They leave and you do it all over again next year. And, that’s not bad. But, there’s a better way. There’s a meeting that will strengthen your trus...

The relationship dynamic between advisors and clients is shifting. It’s shifting away from treating the plan and towards treating the person. The old model was the financial advisor as the “advice giver.” Treating the problem by dispensing advice.  The new model has the advisor playing the role of “thinking partner.” It goes like this: Diagnose the situation, discuss...

Every advisor remembers sitting in a meeting with a couple where one person is engaged and the other hasn’t said a word. Or the meeting with the couple whose goals aren’t aligned. While working with couples certainly has its challenges, it’s also an opportunity for advisors to help couples align and thrive financially. But, doing so requires knowing the skills you need to navigat...

If you want to convert more prospects into life-long clients… You need to know the answer to two questions: Why do people hire a financial advisor? Why do people fire their financial advisor? They just might be the two most important questions for any advisory business. Fortunately, Samantha Lamas and Danielle Labotka did the research to get the answer to those two questions. And, what they...

Christine Benz has been dispensing financial planning knowledge and impacting the lives of people around the world for decades. She’s written hundreds of articles for Morningstar on practical financial planning advice. In fact, she’s one of the best out there. But there are 3 articles that stick out from the rest. They deviated from her usual style laying out step-by-step technical kno...

There’s a dilemma that every financial advisor eventually comes face-to-face with. It’s when you realize that you have too little time and need to be more efficient. At the same time, you also know that the real differentiator for your business is human-to-human connection. And you start wondering, “Can I still be efficient without sacrificing the human connection?” or &#82...

There’s an email you can send that actually: 1) Improves conversion ratios 2) Improves connection and receives responses like “You get me.” In other words, it wins clients AND their trust. Thus, it’s the most important email you’ll ever send. We discuss: The psychology behind why these emails are so powerful The key things to include when sending a recap email Why adv...

After 18+ years in the industry, Justin Castelli decided to shift his business model away from traditional financial planning. Here’s his quote to explain why: “My clients were planning for the life they were told to live. Not the life they wanted to live.” Too often, our client’s life and money decisions are influenced by what society tells them, what their family did, the...

“Behavioral Coaching” continues to emerge as the primary source of value in a relationship between an advisor and client. Yet, most advisors have never learned the skill set required to actually influence and change a client’s behavior for the better. It starts by first understanding the forces that influence client behavior both positively and negatively. To learn what works and...

There’s one communication technique in the skill set of FBI hostage negotiators that stands above the rest. One they describe as being the closest you’ll get to a jedi mind trick. It’s called “mirroring”.  Here’s what it does in conversation: Facilitates bonding and trust, creates connection and empathy, buys you time to regroup your thoughts, and gets someone t...

The financial advice industry does an outstanding job of training and developing technical knowledge. The industry is full of advisors and planners who can sit down at a computer and calculate the time value of money with the best of them. But, financial planning done right isn’t just about technical answers. It’s about how those answers intersect with the person’s life. In this...

The intro meeting is the lifeblood of an advisory business. That 30-60 minute window with a complete stranger is either the most expensive or the most profitable activity you’ll ever engage in. Yet, I kept hearing advisors complain about these meetings. They would say things like: “I never like the way I feel during those meetings” or  “There has to be a better way!” Since...

Morningstar research reveals a direct link between savings behavior and mental time horizon. In fact, the research says mental time horizons are more influential than their age, income, and education. Thus, the more vivid and clear your future, the more likely you are to change your behavior. So, when you’re working with clients and planning for their future selves, you have to take their future g...

When financial advisors meet with clients, it’s easy to focus solely on the numbers and neglect the feelings they elicit. It’s easy to focus on dollars at the expense of emotions. But every single client you work with has a relationship with money that extends beyond data, numbers, and dollar signs. But, it becomes evident when you’re dealing with the retiree who simply won&#8217...

Asking great questions is a superpower for financial advisors. When done right, asking great questions establishes likeability, accelerates trust, and uncovers personal, sensitive information. Three things that are absolutely critical to perform your job at the highest level. But, it’s not just about asking more questions. It’s about knowing how to ask great questions that get great an...