Practice Management,  Weekend Content for New Planners

Weekend Content for New Financial Planners (April 11-12, 2020)

“Weekend Content for New Financial Planners” is a collection of podcasts, articles, videos, etc. that I’ve been consuming regarding breaking into financial planning, industry trends, career development, and more.

This edition of “Weekend Content for New Financial Planners” opens with three articles looking at what it’s like to weather the impact of the coronavirus from the financial advisor’s perspective. Joey Loss with Life Planning Partners displays some vulnerability and a refreshing perspective in describing some of the doubts a young advisor can encounter while encouraging clients to “stay the course.” Bryan Hasling of JW Harrison follows with an insightful blog post detailing the lessons he has learned about managing clients during this challenging time. We round out the topic with a video from Justin Castelli of RLS Wealth Management and Jeremy Walter of Fident Financial describing the challenges they have encountered including calming clients, working from home, and balancing family life. Next, an article from Emile Hallez with Investment News highlights how COVID-19 is actually creating opportunities for advisors by spurring many unsatisfied do-it-yourself investors to reach out for professional advice. Finally, we wrap up with a Q&A article with Dawn Dupre by Ginger Szala of ThinkAdvisor covering how she became an advisor as well as advice for those looking to get into the business.

I hope you enjoy.

Facing the Black Swan as a Young Planner (Joey Loss, Financial-Planning.com)

“Of course, I’m excited to ease the pain with my hard-earned knowledge about recessions and recoveries. But my voice quivers a little. I wonder if they notice. ‘What if this is different…’ I think. ‘Does a coinciding health crisis and murmurs of a depression change things?'”

How to Manage Your Clients During a Crisis (Bryan Hasling, MillennialPlanners.com)

“Cries for help will take many shapes, and clients will rarely articulate their concerns correctly the first time.  When markets dip into recession territory, you will invariably hear questions like: ‘Can we sell stocks until this passes? Is there a smoother way we can manage this?’ Immediately responding to these direct, impulsive questions is a mistake.  Why? Because it is probably the wrong question. Instead of answering the initial question, it’s always better to begin by asking questions in return about their well-being.  ‘It’s been crazy lately. How are you and your family doing?‘  Time and time again, I found that the clients’ initial questions didn’t explain their feelings, their concerns, or desires for action.  They just wanted to open the door for a conversation. Sometimes, the conversation alone (with no action) was the antidote they needed.”

Writing Down Daily Tasks with Jeremy Walter, CFP® (Justin Castelli, RLS Wealth Management)

“I think one thing that would be pretty cool to do an exercise coming out of this, or maybe even in the moment, is if we could get our clients to write down what they’re feeling. Then let them keep a copy of it, but us keep a copy of it as well. So that the next time this event happens – especially if you’re working with young clients, we can pull those memories back from this time period and say ‘hey, you’ve felt this before. Remember Coronavirus 2020? This is how you felt. You’re having those same feelings today. We stuck with this plan. Things got better even though we didn’t think they would. And you were better off by not abandoning the plan.”

How COVID-19 Is Driving New Financial Planning Business (Emile Hallez, InvestmentNews.com)

“‘There has been an increase in prospective clients reaching out to advisers,’ said Evelyn Zohlen, president of Inspired Financial and national chair of the Financial Planning Association. ‘Folks who initially thought that they might like to manage their own finances and their own investing are reconsidering the advantage of having a professional walk alongside them.'”

How ‘Being Bold’ Propelled Advisor’s Career (Ginger Szala, ThinkAdvisor.com)

“Third, this business is a sprint and then a marathon. But once you get through that sprint, if you’re in the right organization, surrounded by the right people, then this business is a marathon. And you pace yourself, and you can have a very long, successful career as long as you do the right things for your clients and your family.”

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