“What’s Trending For New Financial Planners” is a collection of articles, podcasts, videos, etc. that I’ve been consuming regarding breaking into financial planning, industry trends, career development, and more.
Michael Kitces shares his latest research covering the “Big 4” factors that contribute to happy financial advisors [Podcast]:
“We measured, ultimately, it was 100+ different variables that we were testing through this process, but we found it kind of grouped into four main domains.
The first was autonomy. … Autonomy in the context of advisors seems to show up in two particular ways: do you have autonomy in how your clients are served? ‘If I can’t serve my clients the way that I believe they should be served, I get really frustrated as an advisor.’ It sort of makes intuitive sense, but we live in a highly regulated compliance-driven industry. So, when those lines start to clash between ‘I can’t serve clients the way I want to serve them and believe they should be served because I’m having limitations to my firm,’ the unhappiness starts to rise.
The second domain we found around autonomy is autonomy of time. So, do I have control over my time and where and how I’m spending my time. If I’m not in control of my own schedule, if I’m kind of a slave to the business, or the boss, or the clock, or their agenda, or anything to that effect, advisor wellbeing starts to go down when those various autonomy factors start to go down.”
What Makes Advisors Happy With Michael Kitces [Diana Britton, The Healthy Advisor]
The 3 elements that create “Scarcity Loops,” the most powerful type of question to ask clients, and more [Video]:
Video timestamps:
- 03:30 – an overview of Scarcity Loops and the 3 elements that create them
- 07:06 – why we tend to value the unplanned/unexpected aspects of life
- 13:46 – the most powerful type of question to ask clients
- 14:36 – where Scarcity Loops show up in our lives
“Why do we suck so bad at moderating? Why do we keep eating when we’re full? Why do we keep shopping when we own too much? Why do we keep drinking when we’re already tipsy? Why do we scroll social media when it makes us miserable? Why do we watch another episode even when we realize there’s a more meaningful life beyond the screen passing us by? Why do we get stuck? Stuck doing the same thing we regret over and over.”
Discover The Science Of Scarcity: Insights From New York Times Bestselling Author Michael Easter [Carl Richards, The Society Of Advice]
Psychological tendencies that make clients resistant to our advice, the 3 principles of advice that clients actually want to implement, and sample questions to implement these principles yourself [Podcast]:
“There’s actually some research to back this up...when the idea comes from within, when you have an idea of what to do and how to change and it comes from within, it comes from you, there’s about a 70% chance of change in behavior. When the idea, when the answer, comes not from within, but it comes from the outside, when someone tells you the answer, there’s about a 20% chance of change in behavior.”
…
The first thing you want to do is say some version of this, I’m going to give you one way to say it, there’s a lot of ways to say it, you can tailor it to what makes you feel comfortable, but some version of ‘Based on everything we’ve talked about, what do you want to prioritize first?’
Now, some of you are sitting there going, because I did this, too, some of you are sitting there going ‘That seems pretty easy.’ But think about it: you ask that question and you’re literally handing control over to them…Now they feel in control.”
How To Deliver Advice That Clients Actually Follow [Brendan Frazier, The Human Side Of Advice]
ICYMI: How to avoid power of attorney rejection [Article]:
“An increasingly important aspect of estate planning involves ‘digital assets’. In many instances, clients may have created their POAs before the concept of digital assets was fully appreciated. Therefore, the document may not even contemplate that a fiduciary may need to access online accounts or other electronically stored content as part of managing the incapacitated person’s affairs.
An increasing number of states have adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), which lays out the statutory framework for dealing with digital assets. The RUFADAA requires explicit authorization in the applicable legal document for a fiduciary to access a person’s electronic communications. Therefore, a generic POA (or an old one) may be missing specific language empowering the agent to access certain digital assets, making such access legally prohibited by this statute.
Which is why it is increasingly critical in today’s information age, where digital assets and electronic communications are increasingly integral to personal and financial affairs, to explicitly provide an agent with the specific power to access these electronic communications. This inclusion ensures that the agent’s authority is comprehensive and adapts to the evolving digital landscape, covering all critical aspects of asset management and decision-making on behalf of the principal.”
Avoiding Client Power Of Attorney (POA) Rejection By Taking A Comprehensive ‘Kitchen Sink’ Approach [David Haughton, Nerd’s Eye View]
The types of questions interviewers are not allowed to ask and how to respond [Video]:
How To Answer: Illegal Questions An Interviewer May Ask [Caleb Brown, New Planner Recruiting]
3 tips on how to handle the “human side” of advice when you are primarily trained on the “numbers side” [Article]:
“But I am a firm believer in one’s behavioral and communication style. You can’t be phony and fake when you do this. If this approach makes you uncomfortable, and your comfort zone is in the numbers and talking about portfolio allocation, then don’t ask a question feigning interest in their vacation when you genuinely don’t care about it! Many times, an advisor attracts clients who have a similar communication style to their own. It is quite possible your clients are not the type who want to spend time talking about their vacation. You know your audience, and you have to make this judgment. But if you have a mixed group of clients and some do care about their advisor learning more about them and knowing them more deeply, then you need to consider your options in how best to interact with them.”
Do You Know Enough About Your Clients? [Beverly Flaxington, Advisor Perspectives]
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