“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” -Albert Schweitzer
Never hire a person or organization who doesn’t know and state their why, their purpose. Why do they exist? We must know. Insist on knowing. Insist on seeing. Insist on asking.
Serving and empowering others is the highest form of purpose. In financial planning and for our lives, legacy is to use our resources, our conditions, and our circumstances. Principles flow from purpose. We need principles to guide how to act in the day-to-day, moment-to-moment.
When hiring a service professional, especially a financial planner, look for core values such as:
The financial planner works for the client. Clients pilot the plan. Planners are co-pilots. The service is delivered with independence, integrity, and a client-centered focus. We must seek a fiduciary, a planner legally required to work in our best interests. In this arrangement, we are likely to receive full disclosure. Paying for service will be direct, not based on salesmanship. Choose service over products. There is passion about the process and the relationship.
The client hires the planner to be on their team. They both work together to achieve consistency, collaboration, and a high level of ongoing value. It’s a two-way street, a two-way relationship. We get back what we put in. Both parties gain wisdom and experience from the process. Trust is built by establishing commitment and being dependable (do what we say) over time. The financial plan and the planning process are at the center of this relationship. Together, we take action. We have a can do attitude. We improve our lives and the lives of those around us.
Measure success with a long-term perspective. The service is delivered over time, with patience and discipline. Success will happen, but requires time. This is the philosophy. This is the process. Most worthwhile endeavors tend to be simple in concept, difficult in practice. Short-term will always be a strong temptation. Look for a financial planner with a philosophy that shuns this temptation. The temptation…..
- To use planning rules-of-thumb
- To provide false guarantees
- To forecast the economy
- To attempt to time the markets
- To over-manage funds and cost us money
- To sell us products
- To lack transparency
- To waste time seeking silver bullets (return without risk)
Instead, choose a process that establishes an integrated financial goal plan. Supplement the plan with a research-backed investment process. Limit emotion through proper asset allocation, diversification, rebalancing, and funding. We must continue improving and progressing. Measure it with a long-term perspective.
Vision becomes how the service will look and feel. It’s an ongoing process and relationship experience. It is financial life planning. It is client-centered. It is consistent. It is goal focused. Ask to see a firm’s mission statement in writing. Ask to see their purpose, their vision, and their principles. It’s easy to claim to have them. It’s difficult to write them down, share them, and live by them.
We seek encouragement, accountability, action, and measurable outcomes. The implementation of enduring financial principles creates a deeper peace of mind. The person we become in the process of pursuing goals is what matters most and what lasts.
“One just principle from the depths of a cave is more powerful than an army.” -Jose Marti
