Nerd's Eye View

MAY 29, 2025

Financial planning is inherently complex, especially when it comes to data gathering, analysis, and crafting well-reasoned recommendations. But delivering those recommendations in a way that clients can understand and act on is a separate skill. One way to simplify delivery is to build meetings around a single core takeaway.

Clients 130

Clients Communication Tax Planning Financial Advice 130

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

When a client first begins working with an advisor, the relationship is often marked with a flurry of onboarding tasks, immediate issues to resolve, and long-term planning goals to establish. And as clients come into monitoring meetings, they may increasingly describe their situation as "fine", with no pressing issues to address.

Clients 164

Clients Financial Planning Planning Management 164

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 27, 2022

Financial planning is both an art and a science. While an advisor needs technical financial planning knowledge to create and implement plans for clients, soft skills that involve effective communication and relationship building are also crucial to both relate to prospects and clients and to understand their needs.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Planning Clients Retirement 246

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 27, 2022

Financial planning is both an art and a science. While an advisor needs technical financial planning knowledge to create and implement plans for clients, soft skills that involve effective communication and relationship building are also crucial to both relate to prospects and clients and to understand their needs.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Planning Clients Retirement 246

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 20, 2024

Monte Carlo simulations have become a central method of conducting financial planning analyses for clients and are a feature of most comprehensive financial planning software programs. However, the results of these simulations generally don't account for potential adjustments that could be made along the way (e.g.,

Communication 246

Communication Clients Financial Planning Risk Tolerance 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

To sustain firm growth, financial advisors often face a dilemma: to focus on what originally drew them to the profession – like financial planning – they often must first do an extensive amount of business development. From there, advisors may need to consider whom to outsource to.

Marketing 246

Marketing Marketing Communication Engineering 246

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 19, 2025

While some of these programs still exist, the role of an associate advisor has evolved alongside the broader financial planning profession. Even for advisors with a CFP certification or other credentials, honing these skills and the confidence to use them in real-time client interactions requires additional practice.

Financial Planning 143

Financial Planning Communication Certification Planning 143

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 21, 2025

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news that a report from Cerulli Associates found that, amidst an industry-wide trend towards comprehensive financial planning and away from pure transaction-based investment management, asset-based fees currently represent 72.4%

Financial Planner 227

Financial Planner Commission Communication Clients 227

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 22, 2025

I help clients in retirement by doing X, Y, and Z."). However, not all prospects have immediate financial concerns. While these individuals may genuinely be interested in financial advice, they might also feel ambivalent about the timing, relevance, or ultimate value of working with an advisor.

Financial Advice 239

Financial Advice Financial Planning Retirement Clients 239

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

Eric is the Chief Financial Advisor and Co-Owner of Econologics Financial Advisors, an independent RIA based in Largo, Florida, that generates more than $4M of revenue while working with nearly 300 client households.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Clients Planning Financial Advisor 246

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 14, 2025

Centers Of Influence (COIs) play a vital role in the growth and service capabilities of a financial advisory firm. When cultivated with care, these relationships can become valuable sources of client referrals and collaborative insight – especially because COIs and advisors often work with similar client profiles.

Communication 210

Communication Clients Financial Planning Planning 210

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 23, 2025

Since the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the mainstream technological landscape, conversations about which areas of the financial planning industry would be most likely impacted by AI have proliferated. ” – can guide ChatGPT toward more tailored results. Read More.

Financial Advisor 244

Financial Advisor Clients Communication Financial Planning 244

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

A common service model for many financial advisory firms is to schedule annual client meetings throughout the year where the advisor meets with each client in the month they started working with the firm, and conducts a comprehensive review of all planning topics for the client.

Financial Planning 244

Financial Planning Planning Estate Planning Clients 244

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 24, 2023

Financial advisors will sometimes talk about ‘bad’ clients who don’t act on the advice being provided. Advice Engagement is a framework that can help advisors address the challenge of motivating clients. by ensuring that clients receive information in a way that is useful for them); education (e.g.,

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Clients Planning Education 246

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

The increasing popularity of financial planning has led to a growing awareness of how important managing finances and planning for the future can be. For most financial advisors today, a website is a critical tool that allows them to market their services and communicate their fees to potential clients.

Financial Planning 244

Financial Planning Planning Financial Planner Financial Advisor 244

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 26, 2023

Financial plans play an important role for both clients and advisors, as they not only help clients gain a clear perspective of their current financial position, but also provide advisors with a systematic way to organize their analyses and communicate their recommendations to the client.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Planning Clients Communication 246

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 24, 2025

For smaller firms – especially those with little to no experience onboarding new advisors – creating a well-paced financial plan can feel daunting. First, clarity: both the advisor and manager should be able to clearly define the core financial planning skills that a new hire is expected to develop in their first year.

Planning 130

Planning Clients Financial Planning Communication 130

Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

JANUARY 12, 2025

By Antoinette Tuscano, MDRT senior content specialist You can be an outstanding financial advisor; however, youre still out of business without clients. In these top videos posted on MDRTs YouTube channel in 2024, learn how MDRT members communicate and work with clients.

Clients 105

Clients CFP Communication Financial Advisor 105

Nerd's Eye View

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

When a financial advisory firm owner first starts their business, much of their time is spent on finding clients that they can serve. But as they (hopefully) onboard more clients and get busier with servicing those clients, they will also find that they eventually start to run short on time.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Planning Recruitment Clients 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

In the early days of financial planning, serving clients often meant developing transactional relationships focused on facilitating trades and selling insurance. Over time, advisors shifted toward more analytical approaches, such as investment management and retirement planning.

Clients 130

Clients Planning Financial Planner Financial Planning 130

Nerd's Eye View

OCTOBER 5, 2023

For many financial advisors, financial planning advice traditionally focuses on optimization: tax-efficient, continually rebalanced portfolios are often designed to maximize a client's wealth throughout retirement. Then, by assessing the bottom-line impact of reaching their goal on their financial plan (e.g.,

Clients 246

Clients Financial Planning Communication Financial Advisor 246

Nerd's Eye View

OCTOBER 20, 2022

In recent years, politically charged topics have become the forefront of news and media, and with the rise of access to digitally distributed media, it has become commonplace for clients to have concerns about the possible impact of political events on their portfolios.

Portfolio 246

Portfolio Clients Financial Planning Communication 246

Nerd's Eye View

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

So for advisors, it may be worth exploring whether there is anything to be learned from Ramsey's approach to financial advice – even if they may disagree on the details, advisors may find in Ramsey's advice a new and perhaps better way to communicate with (and motivate) clients. Read More.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Planning Financial Advice Clients 246

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 15, 2024

For financial advisors, an ongoing client service model often means finding ways to keep clients engaged and progressing toward their goals outside of the 1 or 2 typical client review meetings each year.

Clients 246

Clients Communication Financial Advisor Wealth Management 246

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 25, 2024

About a decade or so ago, one of the most pressing issues facing the financial advice industry was the threat of an imminent deluge of advisor retirements coupled with a paucity of succession plans to transition clients to the next generation.

Communication 170

Communication Clients Financial Planning Planning 170

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 29, 2024

Most financial advisors strive to provide excellent client care and prioritize a systematic process to maintain regular communication with their clients both on a scheduled (e.g., Suddenly, the question of, "What does it mean to provide the best care for clients at this firm as a team?"

Clients 246

Clients Communication Healthcare Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 15, 2023

For many financial advisors, keeping an open line of communication with clients is a key component of building trust, understanding the client’s values, and developing a meaningful plan to help them reach their financial goals.

Clients 242

Clients Investing Investments Communication 242

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 12, 2023

As comprehensive financial planning has become more widely adopted, many financial advisors have felt pressure to find new ways to differentiate themselves by demonstrating their unique value to clients.

Clients 244

Clients Communication Fee Only Financial Advisor 244

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 13, 2023

Establishing successful client relationships as a financial advisor relies on good communication skills not just to present information persuasively and with confidence, but also to establish client rapport that allows meaningful and engaging relationships to be built.

Clients 246

Clients Financial Planning Financial Planner Communication 246

Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Mann, MBA, CFP I find that so many of my clients, regardless of income, have no idea how much money they are saving. Early in my career, this created quite the challenge in developing a proper plan. First, I would ask clients how much they were saving each year for retirement. Then I would present the plan to the client.

Clients 105

Clients CFP Financial Planning Retirement 105

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

Traditionally, financial planning meetings have been held face-to-face in an advisor's office, and over the years, a body of research has emerged showing that how the advisor's office is laid out can have a significant impact on how clients perceive the advisor, their mood during the meeting, and even their resulting financial planning decisions.

Clients 246

Clients Financial Planning Planning Communication 246

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 6, 2023

One of the benefits of owning a financial planning business is an advisor’s ability to control their work schedule. But some advisors who choose to take more time off from their schedules might be concerned that prospects and clients will consider them to be less committed to serving their planning needs than other advisors.

Clients 243

Clients Communication Financial Planning Numbers 243

Don Connelly & Associates

DECEMBER 16, 2024

Whether planning for retirement, investing in volatile markets, or managing tax implications, clients are often presented with intricate information that can leave them overwhelmed, confused, and anxious, undermining their ability to make informed decisions.

Communication 52

Communication Financial Advisor Financial Planning Clients 52

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 15, 2022

Working as a financial advisor can be both financially rewarding and emotionally satisfying. By helping clients develop financial goals, creating a financial plan, and supporting the implementation and monitoring of the plan, advisors help clients live their best lives.

Clients 239

Clients Financial Advice Financial Planning Planning 239

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 21, 2024

For many financial advicers, helping long-time clients identify and progress toward their goals eventually transitions into conversations around the best ways to enjoy the fruits of their labor once they reach them. And by ensuring that their clients are equipped with (and know how to follow!) Read More.

Clients 246

Clients Financial Planning Financial Advice Retirement 246

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 11, 2022

Many clients seek financial advisors for their expertise and their abilities to guide them through financial decisions. However, for some clients, the ambiguity that inevitably arises from uncertain outcomes can be very distressing, especially when it comes to investments during volatile times.

Clients 189

Clients Financial Planning Communication Financial Advisor 189

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

The need for financial professionals to ask prospects and clients questions has a long history in the industry. One of the best ways to accomplish that goal is not to ask better questions, but to also ask engaging follow-up questions that build trust and rapport with clients. as judgmental.

Clients 246

Clients Communication Financial Planning Retirement 246