The Perfect RIA

As entrepreneurs and business owners, we often try to squeeze too much into a day. So how do you free up your time for the important things? Today the master of delegation, Gina Cotner, joins the show to explain how to delegate tasks to your team and train your assistant to think like you. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  https://bit.ly/2Pi4QLQ   

When a firm goes through any major strategic shift, it is always a concern that the team will not want to comply. So how do you get your team on board through important changes? Today Micah and Matt will share advice on how to address your team's fears and questions, while also sticking to your convictions. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  https://bit.ly/2Zu3gX8  

Today Micah and Matt are breaking down fees and how much you should be charging your clients. While there is no perfect way to set a fee and no ideal structure for every firm, the guys will teach you how to be confident in the value you are providing for your clients. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  https://bit.ly/2TPkBbO

There's a lot of advice out there about how to network effectively, and the truth is that while some of it is solid stuff, plenty of it is just plain bad. So in this episode, Matt and Micah will help you sift through the tips that are totally off-base and find where networking can be a powerful marketing tool. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  https://bit.ly/2OVMY9k

Matt and Micah are frequently asked about how they have set up their practices, what it takes to manage a successful business, and how to make sure you still have time to do the things you love. They will be answering those questions and plenty more in today's mailbag episode. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  http://bit.ly/2YGbnzo  

Clients come in and express all kinds of ideas, such as buying gold, purchasing property, getting in on a timeshare, and more. But what do you do when something seems like a bad idea? In this episode, Matt and Micah break down how to use caution and strategy to help lead clients to a good decision that fits with their goals—without shooting down their ideas right away. You can find show notes and...

Although many people complain about compliance and see it as a burden, this episode is all about changing your attitude so you start to see it as an opportunity. Compliance and audits exist to get the bad guys out of the market, so as long as you're not one of those bad guys, Matt and Micah have some great tips and insight into how you can prepare, communicate, and stay ahead of the game. You can...

Today Matt and Micah discuss the importance of tracking your numbers. While doing his mid-year review, Matt found that he had come in lower in hours than he expected, which got the guys thinking about the value of owning where you have slacked off or messed up in order to improve and get back on track with your goals. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  https://bit.ly/2...

How do you know if it's time to hire a new employee? And how can you be sure that employee will fit in and become a valuable part of your team instead of just being an unnecessary extra expense? Today Matt and Micah discuss staffing and how to hire the right person for your business. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  http://bit.ly/2Ja7sqf    

It can be really hard to know where to begin when you're building your practice from the ground up, so today's episode covers the basics on how to start your practice from scratch. Matt and Micah dive into the key pieces that will make a big difference in how well you do from the beginning so you get up on your feet faster. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  https://bi...

This episode is dedicated to opening up that mailbag and answering your questions. Many listeners asked about how Matt and Micah set up calls, meetings, and planning, so they will lay out how they handle these things from their different strategies to the policies they have in place. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  http://bit.ly/2XdBH7p  

If you think Matt and Micah's journeys to building successful practices were easy, think again. They made just about every mistake along the way, and today they discuss where they went wrong and what they learned in order to give you the insight and guidelines you need to avoid making these same mistakes in your own practice. Listen in to hear some of their biggest marketing flops and what they co...

Regardless of the company, staffing issues happen, and it's up to us as leaders to investigate these problems with a curious mindset. In this episode, Matt and Micah discuss the importance of looking into where the system failed, instead of blaming your staff when a problem comes up. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  https://bit.ly/2Qi46TK  

When it comes to generating positive revenue, it's easy for advisors to end up focusing on the wrong things. In this episode, Matt and Micah dive into profitability metrics and discuss the key tips and tricks they use to stay on track. If you're interested in improving in this area, then this conversation is for you. Listen in to get a new perspective on how pride and chest-pounding factor into th...

Adding valuable services to your practice that benefit your clients is simple, but in order for things to run smoothly, it's important to understand the whole story. Today Matt and Micah will go over some of the most valuable takeaways from their conversation in Episode 28 with Ed Slott. Ed's detailed and practical training has been a huge game changer for financial planners, and this episode brea...

What does it take to provide true value to your clients? Today we have financial expert and advisor Ed Slott on the show to answer that question and more. Named "The Best" source for IRA advice by The Wall Street Journal , Ed works with advisors across the country and provides training in IRAs and retirement distribution planning. In this episode, Ed breaks down the key areas advisors should focus...

There's something that plenty of advisors are guilty of doing without even realizing it: lying to themselves. It's easy to inflate the numbers in your practice, or even guess at them without truly knowing the metrics. And while it may seem harmless to toss around estimations, the truth is that it's actually quite the opposite. In this episode, Matt and Micah dive into the subject of integrity and...

When it comes to client meetings, we've talked a lot about why grouping appointments is beneficial to you, your team, and the people you serve. But what happens when someone wants to see you outside of the appointment surge? Do you let them come in during a time you haven't blocked off for meetings, or is it better to stick to your pre-established schedule? In this episode, Matt and Micah discuss...

Too often, people hang onto the idea that anyone who is successful must be lucky. Worse yet, those same people decide that a similar type of success is impossible for them because they believe that they don't have that kind of luck. So today, Matt and Micah are setting the record straight about what really leads to success. Listen in to hear how attributing others' success to luck not only discred...

Key Links [Link Needed for QCD/Tax preparation document Report that Matthew generates for clients. He references that if someone emails Colleen, we can get a sample of it for the show notes around the 12:34 mark of the episode] Gear Up Program to learn about taxes: https://checkpointlearning.thomsonreuters.com/GearUp Bob Keeblers site for education resources: http://www.keeblerandassociates.com/ab...

Key Links Micah's appearance on Michael Kitces' podcast: Adapting the 4-hour work week ---- Matthew and Micah are of the opinion that an expertise in tax planning (not preparation as is accentuated in the episode) is an essential base of knowledge to cultivate for all financial advisers. As they both elaborate, it would be a case of gross negligence to neglect discussions of taxes with clients. In...

Key Links Micah's appearance on Michael Kitces' podcast: Adapting the 4-hour work week Joe Lukacs' website: http://practicepower.net/ ---- Some common questions that Matthew and Micah encounter are: "should I charge a commission? What about a planning fee? How much of a percentage should I take for that?" And so forth. If you can think of any variation of question regarding fees, Matt and Micah ha...

Every advisor doesn't necessarily need to establish a clear-cut account minimum for their clients. In fact, Micah Shilanski doesn't have one in his practice. He has a system of fees in place which function in a very similar way. But for those who do establish account minimums, like Matthew Jarvis, this all-important number will guarantee, at the very least, the growth of your practice. To ensure t...

Key Links Book that Micah references: Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport Time blocking series by Matt and Micah: https://theperfectria.com/time-blocking/ 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss ---- Matt and Micah are here to talk about the importance of what they define as 'return on time'. It's a concept set in place to ensure that time is spent growing revenue. Because revenue and growth are both extreme...

Key Links Book referenced in this episode: Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy ---- Matt and Micah are tired of well-worn assumptions about advising. In particular, about how lifestyle advisors are lazy by nature. On the other end of the spectrum, many think the job should entail 60+ hour work weeks. Both are wrong. It's not about the time spent, but how effective the time was used. Matt and Micah have...