You're A Financial Planner; Now What? 5d50n

How much does psychology impact money and investing? Quite a bit, actually. Matt sat down with author and former finance columnist, Morgan Housel, to discuss how our experiences and thoughts affect our financial decisions. Matt and Morgan also talk about writing, risk tolerance, and his new book.

Zacc Call, CFP®, is a partner and wealth advisor at Utah-based Capital Financial Network. In this episode, Matt and Zacc talk about the unique structure of Capita’s compensation model, how he ed the profession, and what new financial planners should do when job hunting.

Dr. Mary Bell Carlson is a Certified Financial Planner™, founder of personal finance blog Chief Financial Mom, and a “full-time mom, part-time professor,” as she calls it. Here, she s Hannah to talk about the umbrella of professions under financial planning and how to define success for each planner.

How has the profession changed over time? Quite a bit, but what hasn’t changed is the heart of everything: building relationships with your clients. In this episode, Hannah talked to Lawrence Sprung, CFP® and founder/ President of Mitlin Financial, about just that. They also discuss his firm’s work, professional niches, social media strategy, and more.

Tyler Aubrey, CFP® and financial planner at Define Financial in San Diego, had an unconventional career path that led him to the profession. In our newest YAFPNW episode, Tyler and Matt discuss his early work with a large government contractor, his first financial planning role, and his advice for new planners.

Creating Connections Through Media

Financial Media: A Unique Path Within the Profession

What does content have to do with being a financial planner? How can it help a new financial planner make their mark? According to Justin Castelli, CFP®, founder and owner of RLS Wealth Management, blogger, and podcast host, content can develop your personal brand, tell your story, and grow your business.

What does it take to be a successful new planner? Finding your audience and connecting with them is part of it. Haley Rosa from PR firm Gregory FCA talks with Hannah about developing your personal brand and media strategy in our latest episode of YAFPNW.

Hannah Moore, CFP®, hosts a “giving back” with Kurt Kaczor, Director of Pro Bono at FPA; Robinson Crawford, CFP®; Alex Wilson, CFP®, FPA of GA NexGen Director; and Kyle Eaton, CFP®. They discuss how they got involved in pro bono work, what they’ve learned, and how you can start giving back.

The financial planner’s career path is often thought of as very linear: go to school, get your CFP certification, begin working for a firm and work your way up, or start your own. However, you can’t plan for everything, and sometimes you’re introduced to opportunities you don’t expect.  Like many of our other guests on YAFPNW, Katie Seay, CFP®, proves that life as a financial planner so often takes you in a different direction. In our latest episode, Katie talked to Hannah about what makes The Trust Company unique, how her career has evolved, the importance of firm culture, and more. From Atlanta to Manhattan  Katie went to the University of Georgia, initially as an international affairs major. When she came across family financial planning, her curiosity was piqued. She fell in love with the program and the work, and began working at Ayco in Atlanta, a Goldman Sachs company. After marrying her husband, Katie moved to Manhattan, Kansas, which was a big cultural change from Atlanta. However, it brought her to The Trust Company. A trust company shares similarities with normal financial planning firms, but a few things set it apart. An independent trust company is not owned by a bank, and it’s regulated a bit differently. Trust officers and financial planners are “hands-on as well as multigenerational,” as Katie put it, working with grandparents, parents, and kids throughout their lifetimes. What you do at a trust is not that different from what you do at a firm. “We really are part life coach...and part financial advisor,” said Katie. “I don't think the role is necessarily unsimilar to what a lot of financial advisors are doing with their clients, our just happens to be a more structured role.” The Trust Company’s unique structure Part of what Katie loves about working at The Trust Company is how she’s helped it grow. The Trust Company has been around since the early 90s, so when Katie ed in 2012, the business was already established. What wasn’t established, however, was the financial planning services part of it all. “I've really gotten to create my own business within a business, if that makes sense,” said Katie. “And so it's been the best of both worlds for me. I've gotten to do my own thing, but have all the and resources of an established business.” What has helped Katie grow her business within a business? Maybe part of it is the unique way The Trust Company is structured. The Trust Company has been majority employee-owned since its inception; every employee at The Trust Company has the opportunity to buy in. This allows everyone to have a seat at the table, and feel valued and proud of the company. Katie explained that The Trust Company’s structure adds to conversations with clients, too. “Being still a small business, a lot of times we get questions about, ‘What are your plans? How do I know you're not just going to leave?’ Things like that,” said Katie. “And so it's a very easy conversation to say, ‘Well, I'm an owner of the trust company and here's how that works and here's why that's important to me.’” The importance of a firm’s culture Unique structure aside, Katie also believes strongly in The Trust Company’s culture. When your firm’s culture resonates with you, you believe in what you’re doing. It’s much easier to “sell” your services when  you have confidence in where you’re working and the services that you’re providing, Katie explained.  That’s why it’s so important for new financial planners to find a firm that aligns with who you are. It’s something Katie wishes she had paid more attention to when she entered the profession. “These are people that you're spending most of your day with,” said Katie.”You've just gotta make sure that you really believe in your company because that's ultimately how you are going to be a successful professional.”     What You’ll Learn: How Katie entered the profession What a trust company does 

What does the future of financial planning look like? In our latest YAFPNW episode, Nathan Gehring, CFP®, talks about it with Hannah — as well as “slow financial planning,” providing value to clients, and how we’ll have to keep up with a rapidly evolving world.

Louis Barajas, CFP®, has 30+ years of experience in the profession. As a business and wealth manager, author, and a national speaker to boot, he had lots of insight to share in our newest episode of YAFPNW. Alexandria and Louis discuss his background, the profession, his pro bono work, and much more.

Diane Bourdo, CFP®, is the president of The Humphreys Group, a women-owned and women-operated wealth management firm. A proud feminist, as she states in her Twitter bio, Diane is ionate about the role of women in the profession, as well as the perception of women and money.  In our latest episode of YAFPNW, Matt speaks to Diane about why those perceptions of women and money in our society need to change, the power of listening, how her firm serves clients, and much more. The myth of women and money “I've always considered myself a feminist even when I was a very young girl,” said Diane. “And so being the head of a firm that has always had a focus on women has been a bit of a no-brainer.” Diane’s firm has always targeted women who were recently divorced or inherited, “the whole women-in-transition before it was really a thing,” as she put it. Why? Our culture’s ideas of what it means to be good with money, successful with money, are tired and outdated. They’re also not accurate, and they need to change. “The idea of women not having confidence or knowledge about money doesn't sync up with my experience with women....generally I've found that women are much better at money than they've been led to believe,” said Diane. “And of course it's also true that men are generally not as good at money than they have been led to believe. And so we're all suffering by this narrative. It's not good for anybody.”   How do we start reversing this stereotype? As financial planners, we can start by listening.  Why listening is essential for success It sounds obvious, but anyone in the profession knows that we’ve been trained to fix things. Find solutions. Focus on the technical side of things to make our clients happy. But there’s more to being successful as a financial planner than the numbers. The details, the calculations, the specialized stuff that financial planners do is still very important, Diane says. However, that expertise has to be balanced with empathy. You could have the best plan in the world for a client, but if you don’t know their motivations, emotions, or even struggles behind their decisions, it’s not going to work. That’s why listening to your clients from the get-go is essential. Asking broad, open-ended questions to get an idea of their relationship with money will give you valuable insight. Letting them talk without responding too much. That gives you the context of any problems you’re trying to solve, and you’ll be better equipped to help your client. “We always want to have a solution,” said Diane. “But at least at the beginning, the idea of listening without fixing is something to think about.” Cultivate change...starting with yourself Matt says in this episode that the way the financial planning environment was built sometimes isn’t the best fit for helping our clients. It’s also ill-equipped to allow for gender equality. However, we can start changing the system by committing to that change, especially from the top-down. “In some ways you want to throw the whole thing out and start anew. And that's not really practical or possible and it's not going to happen,” said Diane. “It takes leadership from the top. It takes people to recognize that these things are important and they're actually good for everybody.” If you’re a new financial planner, how can you be the best at your job? How can you be a champion of change for the profession? Diane says that curiosity, self-inquiry, is the most important thing to cultivate to find success.  “We can't change anything in the outside world until we take a look at ourselves,” said Diane. “I think one of the most important things to cultivate to be successful is curiosity, true curiosity, and to have a curious mindset. And you have to just keep practicing that curiosity.”      What You’ll Learn: Diane’s ion about the narrative of women and money The meaning of financial success The “ideal client”

Roger Ma is a CFP®, revenue intelligence analyst at Google, and author. He’s also worked as an investment banker and dabbled in real estate. In our latest episode of YAFPNW, Hannah and Roger discuss blending personal finances and careers, the inspiration for his book, working multiple jobs, and more.

Are you a good listener? If your answer is “yes,” our latest guest on YAFPNW can help you become an even better one. Sandi Bragar, CFP®, discusses how deep listening and asking the right questions are some of the most important skills you’ll use in the profession.

Sonya Dreizler is a financial services consultant, author, and impact investing speaker. In our latest episode of YAFPNW, Sonya discusses how she got into sustainable and impact investing, what they mean, and what inspired her Do Better series in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

What do you do when the job opportunities out there aren’t quite right for you? If you’re investment advisor Nina O’Neal, it’s simple: create your own. In this latest episode of YAFPNW, Nina shares how she got into financial planning, what makes a successful partnership, the reality of work/life balance, and more.

Carl Richards of New York Times Sketch Guy fame needs no introduction. As a former financial planner and current columnist, author, and speaker, Carl had lots to share with Hannah about what the “real work” in our profession, the beauty of simplicity, and why we need to focus on understanding problems rather than offering solutions.

We get to regularly speak with diverse financial planners who hail from all corners of the United States. This week, we were lucky to talk with Kate Holmes, global advocate, CFP®, international speaker, and podcast host about what financial planning looks like worldwide.