What is it That You Do, Exactly?
My best friend of life, ever, who I have known since kindergarten called to ask for my help the other day. I am always really happy to help! I wish that people asked me about finance stuff all the time. I would love to take the burden of tough financial choices off of your plate. Here’s the thing, the questions that she was asking me, they really had very little to do with what I do. It begs the question, what am I doing?! A person who has known me for over 30 years has no idea what I do. That is a huge miss on my part! How have I never explained it to her? Granted, I am very careful not to bring up my business while at social functions. I don’t want my friends or family to feel obligated to be clients. If they want to, that’s great, but no pressure! Given this new information, I think I may have been over-correcting for all the discomfort that I have seen peers create over the years in this business. So, new strategy, people have to know how I can help them, and what I can’t do. I still don’t want them to feel any pressure, but they should at least know what I do. Maybe I need to revisit my elevator pitch… (Please no, that’s one of the reasons I’m self-employed now! I want to spend time on genuine things that matter.)
Right around the same time as my friend asked for help, I saw an article trying to explain the differences between the different titles that people in my industry hold. I could see that it is even muddier than I thought. Nobody seems to really know what I do. So, am I an investment advisor, an RIA, financial planner, wealth manager, broker, a fiduciary, or financial advisor? The answer is yes! But what does it mean?! Most advisors do all of these things. Trying to put a title on it doesn’t really seem to be helping people to know what it is that we do exactly. I’m going to try really hard to shed some light on this. The industry in general may still seem confusing, but I am hoping that I can make it very clear what it is that I do.
First and foremost, I am a fiduciary. I always act in the best interest of my clients, and they will always get full disclosure and a clear understanding of what we are doing and why. I can’t be a good fiduciary without the right data. I can’t give you good advice unless I have all the facts.
If you ask me what my job is, I primarily say that I am a Financial Planner. This is very important to me. Financial education and financial literacy should be the bedrock of your investment experience. I don’t think it’s appropriate to suggest an investment for you unless I have a full sense of your financial situation, and that you understand why I make the recommendations that I do. I look at your entire financial picture to help create a plan to achieve your life goals. Most goals in life require money, and I can help you learn how to manage it to meet them. We have to create a foundation to build on. Transparency is required from a client to make sure that you really are getting advice that is tailored to you. It’s a lot of data gathering, and interviewing at the start, but then we can actively work toward all your goals. At the end of creating the plan, you are going to know if you have the resources to meet your goals, and how to adjust them if you don’t. You’ll know what to save each month. You’ll have strategies for each of your goals, whether they are weddings, college tuition, retirement, care for a parent, etc. The plan will help you determine what your investment strategy needs to be going forward. If you want to do that part on your own with some check-ins along the way. I can accommodate that. In fact, you have to be a financial planning client for six months with me before I will take you on as an investment client. This is very unique in the industry. Feel free to ask me why.
It’s ok if the prospect of sharing all your financials with someone is scary and/or uncomfortable. But, don’t expect someone to be able to help you if you won’t. Don’t be that client that holds things back and doesn’t give all of the facts. That makes the entire plan that you are paying for useless! You might as well take your fee for the plan out back to your fire pit and light it up. It is hard to seek help, but don’t waste your money if you are not ready or comfortable enough to do your part. The budgeting class that I give addresses the baggage that we carry about money. If you need help to unpack that, sign up for the budgeting class.
Once the financial plan is in place we can work toward these other areas of brokerage, financial advice, wealth management, and investment advice. These are the aspects of investing, and figuring out how to allocate your money to meet your goals. My opinion is that is the easy part.