How to Plan For Your Ideal Life, Ep #50
In February, I visited the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii, and trained in helping clients plan for their ideal life. It’s not just the right way to plan but the only way to conduct financial planning for clients. In this episode of the One for the Money podcast, I share details of this type of planning. At the end of the episode, I share a thought-provoking strategy from a book I recently read called Die with Zero.
In this episode...
Focus on the essentials [01:20]
The godfather of life planning [02:22]
Life choices with limited time [06:14]
Untapped potential [08:32]
Dying with zero [11:24]
Listening first, then planning
When financial planning, focusing on what is essential for you to have the life you desire is imperative. The worst thing I could do for a client is to immediately start solving their financial problems without an understanding of what they truly want. Financial solutions without the proper context have the potential of putting a ladder on the wrong wall and having clients start climbing.
The key to discovering what is essential for clients to have an ideal life requires something you may not experience in many investment firms: an investment of time and a lot of listening. After going through this planning myself and taking a number of my clients through the same process, I’ve concluded that it’s not only the best way to plan financially for clients; it’s the only way.
Prioritizing people in their financial plans
George Kinder, the godfather of the life planning movement, has been at the forefront of the financial services industry for more than 35 years. He spearheaded the movement to put the lives that clients desire to live at the center of their financial plans. George Kinder has distilled this planning via five unique steps he has termed the EVOKE process: Exploration, Vision, Obstacles, Knowledge, and Execution. As George Kinder describes, “Life planning focuses on the human side of financial planning and puts people, not products, at the center of analysis and advice and helps clients meet unique goals and unlock the greatest meaning in their lives.”
EVOKE life planning
During the exploration phase, clients share everything that would encompass an ideal life for them without any emphasis on prioritization. It’s imperative to understand what is essential for each individual, even with couples. The vision stage prioritizes the elements of one’s ideal life through inspirational writing exercises. This process helps to shape financial plans that aim toward what matters most to the clients. The Obstacles stage involves identifying barriers hindering the realization of clients’ goals and finding solutions to overcome them.
EVOKE planning’s collaborative process empowers clients to make their dreams feel attainable. The subsequent stages, Knowledge and Execution, involve conducting comprehensive financial analyses and implementing tailored strategies that align with clients’ aspirations, making every financial decision resonate with their passions and purposes.
Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial. A registered investment advisor. Member FINRA & SIPC.
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