In a recent post on her blog, Susan shares some great tips on how we can demonstrate our undivided attention to others. Whether communicating with friends, family members, or clients, you’ll find her tips extremely helpful in creating deeper connections with those important to you.  Read More: The Best Gift of All – Your Genuine Interest

Several of you have been with M.Q. since the early days, and have witnessed the evolution of our programs and model of Financial Life Planning.  And, during this time, the M.Q. Team has definitely gained clarity regarding the steps that our most successful Licensees take in order to achieve the highest return on their investment in M.Q. materials and training.  As a result, they are reaping the rewards of deeper client relationships and a more successful and satisfying work life.  Therefore, in this brief article, I will offer our observations and recommendations so that you too can experience your highest ROI.

CONTINUE TO REFLECT ON AND BE MINDFUL OF YOUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: When you first attended our 3-day “Fundamentals of Financial Life Planning” training course, you each had specific reasons for investing your time, energy, and money in this way.  The themes we have heard time and time again are that you wanted to add another dimension to your client relationships and to have more assurance that you are truly making a difference in your clients’ lives.  In addition, most of you indicated that you were seeking a more structured process for conducting life planning conversations with your clients.

We have observed that our most successful Licensees continue to reflect on their individual goals and objectives, and they remain mindful of the role that Money Quotient plays in helping them to meet those goals and objectives.  In other words, the “why” and the “how” stays forefront in their minds and continues to provide the impetus to stay on course and remain true to their vision.

CONTINUE TO REVIEW ALL M.Q. TOOLS & RESOURCES: Next, our most successful Licensees continue to review all M.Q. tools & resources available to them.  They understand that the “Fundamentals of Financial Life Planning” course is designed to be an in-depth and meaningful experience; but, nonetheless, is only the beginning of the journey.  In the three days that you commit to that training, the M.Q. Team is able to provide you with and introduction to and overview of our full suite of tools, resources, and processes.  Each day of the course is packed with new information, and it is simply impossible retain it all.

Therefore, in order to gain a complete understanding of all that is available to you as an M.Q. Licensee, it is important to spend time reviewing everything presented in your initial training.  For starters, take time to sit with your “Fundamentals” training binder and peruse each section.  Think about each tool and what was said and/or experienced during the course.  In addition, read the Introductions, Tool Guides, and supplementary materials included in each section.

And, most importantly, take advantage of the Getting Started Training telephone consultations that are included in your licensing fees.  These consultations are designed to guide your review and to make sure you know how to locate and utilize every tool and resource that is included in your M.Q. web-based account.

In fact, we have come to believe so strongly in the value of the Getting Started Training process, that we are now making it a requirement to complete your consultations within a specified period of time following completion of the “Fundamentals” course.   However, those who completed the Fundamentals course prior to 2011 (when this requirement was established) will be grandfathered into a bit more lenient timeframe.  We have been contacting everyone who has not yet completed their Getting Started Training to discuss a plan that will work for you and still meet our criteria.

Other ways to keep in touch with all the tools and resources available to you include attending our semi-annual “M.Q. Licensee Update” webinars and other Learning Opportunities that address specific M.Q. tools and processes.  We also recommend that all of our Licensees complete the “Fundamentals” course a second time approximately two to four years following their initial attendance.  All graduates of that course can return for a refresher at any time for a 50% discount on tuition.

In addition, we recommend that you go through a complete life planning process for yourself on an annual basis.  I suggest using the template designed for your particular tool level.  For example, if you are licensed at Level 4, the Level 4 Client Meeting Template incorporates every tool available to you.  In this way, you will be reminded of tools that you don’t typically use with your clients and will more likely recall and utilize them in the future.  You will also be reminded of the tremendous personal benefit of Financial Life Planning, and become more mindful of the value you are providing your clients.

DESIGN A PROCESS & IMPLEMENTATION PLAN: Most importantly, our most successful Licenses are serious about designing a complete life planning process and creating an implementation plan.  I often say that there is no magic in licensing the M.Q. Financial Life Planning tools, the magic only happens when you routinely use these tools with your clients.  In other words, the key to success is adopting a sequence of M.Q. tools that become an integral component of your client meeting processes.  We recommend starting out by adding two to three tools and then determining a timeframe for adding more tools until you have incorporated your complete life planning process into your client meeting schedule.

Again, the best way to accomplish this goal is by completing the Getting Started Training consultations where you will receive expert assistance in developing your unique process and implementation plan.  This is another reason why we are tightening our policies around completing this important step of your M.Q. education.  The main objective of those phone consultations is to customize one or more of the M.Q. Client Meeting Templates to reflect the goals and objectives of your practice.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE: The next step that will lead to your success is to practice, practice, practice.  We have learned that the biggest deterrent to engaging in life planning conversations is the financial planner’s lack of confidence.  However, our most successful Licensees don’t wait until they feel they are ready and have mastered all the nuances of each tool.  Instead, they jump in and start using at least two tools right away.  They are willing to stretch their comfort zones in order to achieve what they want in regard to their client relationships.

In addition, it is important to keep in mind, that the M.Q. tools are designed to do the hard work for you.  All you have to do is provide your clients with the opportunity to reflect and respond to the questions and statements presented on the client worksheets.

As in all new activities, whether it is learning to ride a bike or learning a new software program, the more you practice, the more comfortable and confident you become.  Soon, using the M.Q. tools, interpreting client responses, and facilitating Financial Life Planning conversations will become second nature to you.

STAY ON THE PATH OF PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL GROWTH: We have also observed that our most successful Licensees are dedicated to their own personal and professional growth.  In other words, they are serious about their own life planning and committed to investing in all areas represented on the Wheel of Life.

To help them build their Financial Life Planning skills and knowledge, they take advantage of the wide variety of M.Q. Learning Opportunities provided.  In fact, many have attended the “Fundamentals” training course a second and third time and regularly attend M.Q. educational webinars and our biennial M.Q. Retreat.  We are also developing a series of Advanced Trainings to provide you with an ongoing personal and profession growth track.

ENGAGE WITH THE M.Q. COMMUNITY: Our most successful Licensees also value the opportunity to engage with like-minded professionals, and make an effort to stay in touch and communicate on a regular basis.  They gravitate together at industry conferences and don’t hesitate to contact one another to ask questions and seek advice.  Again, opportunities like the M.Q. Retreat really help to facilitate a sense of community as well as our newer services such as the Discussion Forum and Mastermind groups.

SAVOR THE REWARDS: And lastly, our most successful Licensees experience direct benefits from engaging their clients in ongoing life planning processes and conversations.  As a result, they appreciate, savor, and enjoy both the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards they receive because of their intention to make a difference in the lives of the clients they serve.

Note: Financial Life Planning Tools Licensees are able to access a downloadable/printable version of this article via the “M.Q. Resources” section of their password protected account on the M.Q. website.

“Evidenced-Based Financial Planning: To Learn . . . Like a CFP”

“CFP® practitioners have an urgent need to develop basic financial planning theory. Without underlying buttressing theory, how can we practice as a profession?” This is not a new observation. In fact, Dick Wagner made that opening declaration more than 20 years ago in his seminal essay “To Think … Like a CFP” (1990). Nearly a decade later, Warschauer (2002) could still observe that “as one approaches the content of financial planning (CFP Board’s 101 topics) from a view of higher cognitive level, it becomes clear that we have poor theory to guide the practice of financial planning.” The contemporaneous assessment of Black Jr. et al. (2002) was no better: “The PFP field has evolved largely devoid of a theoretical foundation” and “we know of no respected profession without academic underpinnings and recognized academic standing.” More recently, Wagner (2007), while revisiting the theme of financial planning becoming a “learned profession,” suggested that “for the most part, we have not closely examined our presuppositions, often settling for bland aphorisms rather than critically examining our assumptions.”

If we do, in fact, aspire to the status of learned profession, then financial planning has surely reached the point in its development where the way forward urgently requires us to move decisively from observation to corrective action. Specifically, we propose that the time has come to commit ourselves as a profession to a more scientifically grounded and evidence-based approach to expanding our body of knowledge and assessing and adopting best practices. Read More: Evidence-Based Financial Planning – To Learn . . . Like a CFP

Keep this document short, right-brained, and emotional. These are the overarching concerns and goals that you want each client to know that you understand and have addressed in their plan. When used correctly, this simple document will connect your plan and your recommendations directly to the emotional payoffs that your clients want from their money.

Money Quotient offers three Summary Sheets to help you with this process. The first, Key Elements for Creating Your Financial Life Plan is designed to be completed using wording that expresses the client’s point of view to reiterate important highlights of the conversations you have had throughout the Financial Life Planning process. The Key Elements form allows you to say, “I hear you, and my financial advice will address these elements that are most important to you.” A completed example of the Key Elements form is also available in the Practice Management Resources Library.

The next M.Q. Summary Sheet, Plan for Success allows you to take items from the Key Elements form and align them directly with the financial advice you are providing your client. Plan for Success breaks down the financial plan in an easy to understand way on a simple chart and creates a visual bridge for the client between their life and goals, and the financial plan you have created.

The third M.Q. Summary Sheet, Foundation of Your Financial Life Plan is designed to serve the same purpose as the Key Elements for Creating Your Financial Life form, but provides a much more detailed option. Foundation of Your Financial Life Plan allows you to align your financial advice with clients goals and objectives in various facets of life, address current and upcoming transitions, touch on values and priorities related to decision making, and look at important elements of legacy planning.

Sharing the M.Q. Summary Sheets with clients will help them to “buy into” and “own” the unique financial plan that you have designed for them and assist in increasing their responsiveness to the action steps you have outlined by forming a clearer, more personal picture of the end result.

M.Q. Licensees may access the Summary Sheets, via their password protected accounts, located on the M.Q. website. The Summary Sheets are part of the Practice Management Resources Library which contains items designed to support and enhance a successful Financial Life Planning process. The Key Elements for Creating Your Financial Life Plan and Plan for Success forms are accessible to Licensing Levels 2-4. The Foundation of Your Financial Life Plan document is available at Licensing Levels 3 and 4.

Citation: “The Business of Life: Sweet Emotion,” by Steve Moeller. Investment Advisor, December 2005.

As we approach Thanksgiving, Neal encourages Americans to use this holiday to discuss important financial issues with family members we see infrequently.  Neal’s tips for conducting these important conversations are ones that you can use yourself and also pass along to your financial planning clients. To read more, click here. To learn about the CFP Board Ambassador program, click here.