how we work together

At Financial Coach we take a three-pronged approach to developing a deep and meaningful understanding of our clients. We call this discovery process the Retirement Blueprint. While most advisors use the fact gathering mission as means for them to help the client, we also see it as THE critical step in the client being able to help themselves!

Start with discovery...

The most important and valuable work that we do as we guide our clients to clearly define their retirement destination and begin to craft the road map to get there.

Discovery

Gameplan

Implementation

Coaching

Select Discovery to begin presentation

Discovery: Vision

“Mr. and Mrs. Client, if we were sitting here 3 years from now, looking back at those years, what’s happened in your life that has you feeling really good about your progress? What major dangers have you been able to avoid and what opportunities have you been able to exploit?” The discoveries that are made during this conversation are life altering. This is the first time for most clients that they have articulated, and documented, what they want their retirement lives to look like, what their legacies within their families and communities could be, and how they plan to live a full and meaningful existence beyond their professional endeavors. Unearthed are the values that will guide the family forward and the purpose for their life’s future activities. This is always a powerful moment for the clients and our Team, and the energy and excitement created around the possibilities of “what could be” is contagious as the Retirement Blueprint begins to take shape.

Next: Raw Materials

Discovery: Raw Materials

After unearthing the family vision for the ideal retirement and legacy, we then dig into the raw materials of the client’s current financial plan. The reason why the facts and data come second to the Vision is that without the blueprint, all we have is a pile of lumber and no clue as to how the pieces fit together. The lumber only serves a purpose and delivers value to the client if, and only if, there is a clear and defined reason for its inclusion in the overall design.

We perform an exhaustive diagnostic on all of the various pieces of financial lumber in our clients plan and deliver back to them critical feedback and education about each component and its merits relative to their vision. As “goals based” coaches, the use and implementation of the various financial tools and techniques has to relate back to the family objectives and align with their values.

Next: Emotional Quotient

Discovery: Emotional quotient

If the raw materials are the tangible components of a financial plan, than the Emotional Quotient is the intangible piece. The EQ is the human piece that traditional firms and advisors miss to their client’s detriment, because without accounting for the real world emotions and frailties of the human condition, and developing tactics to manage instinctive and reactionary behaviors, even the best laid plans can, and often do, fail. In developing each family EQ, we spend meaningful time and firm resources to truly understand the client’s relationship with money. We gather information about their upbringing and their parents’ money habits. We reconstruct a track record of their best, and worst, financial decisions and diagnose their willingness to accept the uncertainty of the short-term on their quest for success over thefrom the financial media, from performance chasing, and from the fear of the unknown.

Move to gameplan »

GAMEPLAN: RETIREMENT PAYCHECK

“How do I get a paycheck when I no longer get a paycheck?” Sound familiar? Most people have worked a lifetime to build their nest eggs, and all too often have never been coached as to how to spend it in retirement. In Playbook # 1, we develop a custom income plan that will allow our clients to receive a paycheck regardless of market and portfolio performance. Through careful segmentation and contingency planning, we provide the cutting edge techniques necessary for sustainable portfolio withdrawals, as well as techniques to maximize pension and social security benefits.

Next: INVESTMENTS AND ALLOCATION POLICY

GAMEPLAN: INVESTMENTS AND ALLOCATION POLICY

Going from saving mode to spending mode is not only an economic event; it is also an emotional event. We find that folks who were risk takers while in growth mode have a meaningful change of heart when their employment income has stopped. They may not know it yet, but when the first sign of volatility rears its head in the markets, we are reminded by them that “this is all I have!” or “We no longer have a paycheck, and can’t afford to lose any money!” They become conservative investors overnight. So, how do we balance the economic NEED to grow, as inflation over a 30 year retirement is a killer, with the human NEED to protect? In Playbook # 2, we educate our clients on the realities of a 30 year retirement time horizon (and growing) and the opportunity to grow wealth and income with an evidenced based investment approach (Learn More…Link to our Investment Philosophy page). Second, we provide detailed investment recommendations that are tailored to the specific needs of the client. The combination of the evidence based methodology and the ongoing investment coaching provided by Financial Coach leads to improved odds of retirement income and investing success.