During the last quarter of 2012 I had to navigate around the hospital/Medicare system with an aging parent who had a stroke. My parents are college-educated, intelligent, savvy people who had always assured my siblings and me that they had everything under control. Well, it turns out they didn’t. And the one person who has helped us navigate the mess was their new financial advisor, Kimberly Fogg, Merrill Lynch, who also happens to be a Supernova wealth advisor. They moved their portfolio to her one month before the stroke and she started the planning process including a financial plan, cash flow analysis and monthly contact. But there were many things left undone due to the short time they had been working together. Fortunately, we have been putting together the pieces – beneficiaries, end of year tax details, life insurance policies that should be cashed-in, autos titled incorrectly, too many bank accounts, and unprotected taxable assets…just to name a few.
Do any of your clients have the same issues? Have you checked with each one? If you haven’t – make that your goal for 2013 as you hold your monthly 12-4-2 calls and meetings. Remember, one of the commitments you make to your clients as a Supernova advisor is a comprehensive financial plan that is regularly monitored and updated. What’s more, this is an opportunity for you to have regular conversations with each of your clients that you will truly feel good about. The result will be even more loyal fans. These loyal fans will tell their friends and family about you and referrals will happen automatically.
Take your commitment to financial planning seriously. Make sure every client has a plan. If you have clients without a cash flow analysis create one for them. You will help them think about the future just by going through the process. Look into their insurance needs and make sure they are met. Check on their mortgage rates, beneficiaries, wills and tax situation.
Supernova advisors know where their clients stand. They make sure their affairs are in order and update them on an ongoing basis. This takes a lot of time. That is why you should set your minimum high enough to make sure you’re properly being paid for your valuable time. That is why you have to carefully consider the maximum number of clients you are willing to handle. For their part, your clients will know the value you are providing and you will be rewarded in countless ways.
If you’re a Supernova member, you can download our Personal Information Update in the downloads tab of this website. This PDF document is a great way to get the information gathering (or updating) process started. It is a not meant to replace financial plannning tools you already use. It is a guide for the designated caregivers who needs to keep the client’s affairs in order in case of illness or death. You may be surprised by how many spouses don’t know the information on this form.
Here are some simple steps you may want to consider in using this or other financial planning tools:
Planning is part of your brand as a Supernova advisor. This form is just one more tool your clients and their families will be grateful for your attention to detail. You will stand apart from the crowd.To find out more about the Supernova Coaching Program fill out this form (click here).
“There is more to life than increasing its speed”
Mohandas Gandhi
I don’t have to travel much for business, but when I do take a trip I think of it as an adventure. My time in airports, hotels and moving about different cities is a perfect opportunity for one of my favorite pastimes — people watching. I enjoy studying the way different people act or react in similar situations.
During a recent trip, I “relearned” several of the key time-saving, stress reduction techniques I teach financial advisors. The travel situation may not mirror your practice, but I’m sure you’ll relate to one or both of my travel mates.
We will begin boarding…..
Recently, while sitting in an airline terminal, I was struck by how hard some people work. One fellow had 2 cell phones and a Blackberry working in perfect harmony. He seemed to be scheduling appointments, answering questions from his subordinates and firing off emails. If he was enjoying himself, it wasn’t evident.
Right next to him, another business traveler had taken off his shoes, tilted the bill of his cap over his eyes, leaned back to relax and called a friend to catch up on old times. Although he was being rather loud, he looked like he was resting in the comfort of his favorite easy chair.
The cabin doors are closing……
When we got on our plane, my fascination with the way these businessmen utilized their time continued. The guy with all the electronic gear stayed on the phone until the last possible moment. When the passenger door closed, he powered down his wireless gadgets, reached for a briefcase and pulled out a report on which he quickly began jotting notes. Upon landing, one of his cell phones was quickly reattached to his ear.
The other fellow, who didn’t appear to have a care in the world, simply fell asleep as he scanned the “Sky Mall” catalogue. Waking up as the plane touched down, he tore a page out of his catalogue and stuck it in his shirt pocket. A few minutes later, while checking his voicemail, a big smile came across his face. He looked as if he had received good news.
This is our final destination……
At this point, my curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to debrief these fellow passengers as we began to exit the plane. First, I asked the guy with multiple cell phones if he enjoyed his flight. “Hell no,” he said, “I didn’t get a damn thing done.”
“Interesting,” I thought, but before I could say another word, he continued his answer with even more disgust. It went something like this:
“Nobody was around to take my calls from the last airport, so now my voicemail is filled with a bunch of calls I need to return to people who were returning my call. My Blackberry is loaded with emails; most of them are a waste of time. And to top it all off, the report I reviewed during the flight wasn’t the latest version, so now I’ll have to start over when I get home. I need to give my boss an update first thing tomorrow.”
Items in the overhead bin may have shifted…..
Fortunately, this guy’s cell phone rang before I could respond, so I turned to my other traveling companion and asked the same question. His response was much different; he said he had had an “awesome” trip. As we were exiting the plane (we were sitting in the back) our conversation went something like this:
“That’s great,” I replied, “what happened?”
“Well, when I was sitting in the last airport, I saw a young kid wearing a t-shirt from my old college. That reminded me of a roommate I hadn’t called in years, so while I was waiting for this flight, I gave him a call. Now, we’re making plans to get together for a golf weekend with our wives.”
“Terrific,” I said, but before I could get another word out of my mouth, he started talking again.
Tip #1: Picture your success
“Wait, that’s not all. While I was relaxing on this flight, I polished off the outline for a presentation I’ll be making tomorrow. I was really struggling, but sometimes my best ideas come when I just try to relax.”
“Strange,” I interrupted, “when I glanced over at you during the flight, I thought you were sleeping.”
“No way,” he went on, “I just closed my eyes and pictured myself in front of my clients and the presentation came to me. Pretending to be asleep is a good way to avoid disruptions.”
“It sounds like you should travel more often”, I joked.
“I travel for business a couple days a week,” he continued, “but that’s still not the best part of this trip. When we landed, I listened to a voicemail. The clients I just left were calling to say they were ready to move forward with my proposal. It will be one of my biggest projects ever.”
“Congratulations,” I said, “You didn’t even have time to worry and make a bunch of follow-up calls to see how you did.”
Tip #2: Focus on the activities that matter most
“You’re right” he went on, “but I’m really not a worrier. When I’m on the road a lot I watch all types of businesspeople. They’re frantically rushing around the airport to squeeze in one more call or catch up on their emails. They don’t give themselves any downtime and they always looked tired and worried. I’ll bet they’re shortening their lifespan by years.”
“What’s your secret?” I asked.
“I’m in sales, so I know my job is all about relationships. I plan each week around taking care of my clients and prospects.”
“Tell me more,” I said, “that sounds simple, but it must be tough with all the time you spend in airports.”
“Not really,” he offered, “I spend time at the beginning of each week planning my activities. To reach my goals, I know that I need to hold at least 5 face-to-face meetings each week. Most weeks, I’m able to hold a couple extra.”
“Sounds like a perfect formula,” I interrupted.
“That’s only the first half of the equation,” he continued, “I also have to do a lot of handholding in-between meetings. For me, that’s at least 20 phone calls per week. I always keep a list of my clients and prospects in my pocket calendar. I make 5 phone calls per day and I don’t let them stack up. Plus, these calls usually help me meet my appointment goals for the coming weeks.”
“So long,” I said as we entered the terminal, “I hope you have a great weekend.”
Tip #3: Personal freedom is a treasure
But then my traveling companion stopped me and with one more bit of good news. “I almost forgot,” he said with a big smile. “I found the perfect anniversary gift for my wife in the in-flight catalogue. I should be able to pick it up on the way home. This was a very productive trip.”
A few minutes later, as I walked through the parking garage, I overheard someone talking rather loudly on a cell phone. It was the other traveler. He was sitting in his car, engine running, reading an email from his Blackberry and talking on one of his cell phones…
You can’t help but be impressed by the success that Israel had in protecting it’s population from the thousands of rockets raining down on it by the Hamas. The system they developed in less than five years is called the Iron Dome (check it out on Youtube). It has the ability in 15 seconds to identify and shoot down a rocket headed for a populated area and let go one headed for the desert.
The story is even more interesting when you here how improbable was its birth and struggle to success. No one but a handful of Israelis believed it would work. The story captured this week in the Wall Street Journal (Nov. 20, 2012) is the story of a hero who persisted in making it come true. This will make a great movie of the Hero’s Journey of Brigadier General Daniel Gold. Watch to see what Hollywood studio is first to the story.
How does this apply to you? You have hand rockets raining down on your clients for months, if not years. This especially applies to your seniors who rely on income from their portfolios, low interest rates, potential tax increases on dividends and capital gains, sizable volatility, scandals, crashes and persistent recession. Many are depressed following the election and are ready to flee to the bunkers by going to cash or moving to another advisor.
What can you do to give them hope?
Supernova can be the Iron Dome for your clients. Think of your 12/4/2 constant contact model, as your rockets sent to shoot down the incoming missiles of negativity. Although some will alway get through, those missiles can protect you and your population from potentially disastrous decisions.
A bad decision on Social Security collection benefits can cost you as much as $200,000 over you and your spouse’s lifetime. There is a lot of misinformation and scare tactics being disseminated to clients. Social Security will be there for those 60-plus so making a good decision based on facts can be one of the most important decisions of your life. Your wealthiest clients can afford not to take Social Security payments at age 62. So when should they take it? It all depends.
If they are in good health, the primary bread winner should wait until he or she is 66 years old and reaches their full retirement age and should then apply for benefits and suspend those benefits until he or she reaches age 70. For this purpose, let’s use that he is the primary bread winner and she is a stay-at-home spouse. He will then accumulate credits at 8% monthly plus the cost of living allowance each year until he reaches the full retirement age. Once he has applied for benefits, the spouse can apply at her full retirement age – 66 – and collect half of the benefits. At age 70, he will begin taking benefits at 132% of his full retirement age. This is referred to as their primary income account, or PIA. When should clients begin collecting Social Security? Here is where it gets interesting. If the husband passes away after the age of 70, the spouse will collect 100% of the husband’s PIA or primary income amount, until she passes away. This is the real planning benefit since the spouse’s mortality tables have her living to age 91 if, in fact, she reaches the age of 65. If she is wealthy and in good health, her chances of living past 100 are very high. Remember, mortality tables are for all Americans. If you have taken care of yourself, have good genes, wear seat belts, and have excellent regular check-ups and have access to good medical care, your longevity is much greater. Once you live past age 65, your longevity is now 85 for a male and 91 for females. That is the good news/bad news. By following this deferred gratification model, you can further ensure that if you do live into your 100’s you will have the money. This may be the best long-term care planning out there. If one spouse has a high likelihood of outliving the other for a substantial amount of time, the couple’s best overall strategy may involve maximizing survivor benefits.
Check with Blackrock Advisory Consultants for a personalized analysis of your clients regarding Social Security benefits; they have some great material.
What to do for the client who is retiring and has everything. Once you retire completely, most retirees start to take their health seriously. “Younger Next Year” by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge, M.D. is a great gift that could change their life. Live Strong, Fit and Sexy—-Until Your 89 and Beyond is the basic premise. They show you step by step how to reverse the aging process.
As a 60+, this was music to my ears. No magic, proper sleep, exercise and a good diet, but they really build the case with lots of medical facts, great stories and doable rituals. I have given this book to hundreds of retirees with great feedback. Try it.
Of course, please let us know if we can help. Our new website and coaching services are dedicated to helping you bring balance to your life, improve the overall focus on your practice and give you the time to grow significantly.
Supernova was born out of too much success. You might wonder how success spurred on the need for advisors to segment their clients and give them a higher level of service. There was so much success, in terms of clients coming in, that the advisors were accepting more clients then they could possibly service. Advisors had 400, 500 and even 1,000 clients. When the markets started to decline those same clients took their assets and went elsewhere causing a very high attrition rate. Is this happening to you today? Do you talk to your clients every month? Do you find it hard to say no to new clients that are below your minimum?
Rob Knapp and his colleagues did their homework and found the clients didn’t have any allegiance to the firm because they weren’t being served. Thus Supernova was born out of the need to create client loyalty. At first advisors cut their practices down but not sufficiently enough to give them the time to have a life or grow their business. Today we know that 100 clients is the maximum you can manage while still having time for recovery and prospecting. John Hess, who worked closely with Rob, developed the “Hess Report” to help advisors keep track of and schedule appointments with clients. Today we have created the Supernova 12/4/2 Scheduling Tool to achieve that same goal. Another innovation that has evolved is giving every client a plan and full implementation of that plan. Over the years advisors have found ‘he who owns the plan owns the client’.
When Supernova started advisors had 5 folders on their desk everyday and those folders were made up on a daily basis to accommodate the clients of the day. Today each client has his or her own Supernova folder with the client of the day’s placed on the FA’s desk every day. We now give each client a Mini-Me folder to keep track of their questions and concerns between appointments.
Other changes to Supernova include raising your minimum annually, establishing a powerful brand in the client’s mind (through the exceptional service model) and giving control of the Gameboard to the office manager. We also have developed a 90/6/4 structure (90 prospects, 6 Center’s of Influence and a 4 member Mastermind Group) and treat these groups like they were clients with folders and structured contact. The acquisition strategy now includes asking for advice from clients in terms of how to approach new referrals.
Supernova will continue to evolve along with the industry because unlike other practice management models it truly encompasses the best practices of financial advisors everywhere and crafts those best practices into simple, workable rituals.
Find out how many hours of sleep you and your loved ones really need! Refresh yourself on the basics behind sleep!
http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm
Understanding sleep: By Melinda Smith, Lawrence Robinson, and Robert Segal
It’s not just the number of hours in bed that is important—it’s the quality of those hours of sleep. If you’re giving yourself plenty of time for sleep, but you’re still having trouble waking up in the morning or staying alert all day, you may not be spending enough time in the different stages of sleep—especially deep sleep and REM sleep. By understanding how the sleep cycles work and the factors that can lead to those cycles being disrupted, you’ll be able to start getting both the quantity and the quality of sleep you need.
Your internal 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, otherwise known as biological clock or circadian rhythm, is regulated by processes in the brain that respond to how long you’ve been awake and the changes between light and dark. At night, your body responds to the loss of daylight by producing melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. During the day, sunlight triggers the brain to inhibit melatonin production so you feel awake and alert.
This sleep-wake cycle can be disrupted by factors such as nightshift work, traveling across time zones, or irregular sleeping patterns, leaving you feeling groggy, disoriented, and sleepy at inconvenient times. The production of melatonin can also be thrown off when you’re deprived of sunlight during the day or exposed to too much artificial light at night, disrupting the sleep-wake cycle and preventing you from getting the sleep you need.
How many hours of sleep do you need?
| Average Sleep Needs | |
| Age | Hours |
| Newborns (0-2 months) | 12 – 18 |
| Infants (3 months to 1 year) | 14 – 15 |
| Toddlers (1 to 3 years) | 12 – 14 |
| Preschoolers (3 to 5 years) | 11 – 13 |
| School-aged children (5 to 12 years) | 10 – 11 |
| Teens and preteens (12 to 18 years) | 8.5 – 10 |
| Adults (18+) | 7.5 – 9 |
There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function optimally. Just because you’re able to operate on 7 hours of sleep doesn’t mean you wouldn’t feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed. The best way to figure out if you’re meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you’re logging enough hours, you’ll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime.
Think six hours of sleep is enough?
Think again. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that some people have a gene that enables them to do well on 6 hours of sleep a night. But the gene is very rare, appearing in less than 3% of the population. For the other 97% of us, six hours doesn’t come close to cutting it.
Financial advisors should always be looking for opportunities to help their clients in terms of saving them money. You not only deepen your relationship with your clients you provide another reason for them to see your value and referability. This time of year many individuals and families are in a philanthropic mode. How do wealthy households decide where and how to give? The 2010 Bank of American Merrill Lynch Study of High Net Worth found high net worth households in 2009 consulted accountants (67.5 percent), attorneys (40.8 percent) and financial/wealth advisors (38.8 percent) when making charitable decisions.
Our belief is the percent that consult financial/wealth advisors would be much higher if the advisors were more proactive in this area. In fact the study found that of the high net worth households who consulted an advisor when making charitable giving decisions, 90 percent initiated the discussion, while the advisor initiated the discussion in 10 percent of the consultations. In most cases when high net worth households received advice or services from advisors they satisfied with the advice given (84.6 percent).
How do you start the conversation about charitable giving? Here are some questions you can ask to get started:
1. Do you volunteer?
2. What are your favorite causes or charities?
3. Of all the gifts of time and money you have given over the years, which was the most meaningful to you?
4. What would you like to have happen as a result of your giving?
5. What core value would you like your giving to reflect?
6. Who has made a difference in your life? Would you like to help others in a way you have been helped?
An important factor to consider when raising this topic with clients is who is making decisions. This study found consultation and collaboration drive philanthropic decision-making by high net worth donor couples. More than two-thirds of the couples surveyed confer with each other before giving money to charities. Two out of five (41 percent) made their decisions together and a quarter (25.9 percent) discussed their decisions before one person made the final choice. More than 30 percent of respondents made decisions separately – 16.4 percent made their household’s charitable contributions without conferring with their partner and 15.2 percent of couples reported they each made independent decisions about the couple’s giving.
“This research gives us unprecedented insights into how high net worth couples decide where their philanthropic dollars go,” said Una Osili, the Center of Philanthropy’s director of research. “Some nonprofits may assume men are the primary philanthropic decision makers, rather than women deciding or the couple choosing together.” In an article in ONWALLSTREET, Ruthie Ackerman, reports “With 51.3 percent of wealth in the United States now in the hands of women this is an important moment for financial advisors and planners to take note of as more high net worth women look for advice around how to give, whom to give to and how best to create legacies they can be proud of.” Lauren Embrey, one of the leaders of Women Moving Millions and president of The Embrey Family Foundation, said women philanthropists want ‘our dollars tied up with values and mission’.
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch study also examined the risk tolerance with personal and philanthropic assets and found high net worth households reported various levels of risk tolerance in both their personal investments and their philanthropic investments (e.g., foundation, donor-advised fund(s), or trust). While 35.2 percent of households reported a willingness to tolerate above-average or substantial levels of risk in their personal investing in the hopes of garnering significant returns, less showed willingness to accept that level of risk in their philanthropic investments with 22.9 percent of the households reporting an above-average or substantial risk tolerance in that area. Only 10.4 percent of high net worth households reported they were not willing to take any risks in their personal investing. In contrast 25.7 percent of high net worth households claimed to be completely risk averse with respect to their philanthropic investments.
This landmark biennial study conducted for Bank of America Merrill Lynch by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University began in 2005 and has proved to be a leading resource on the giving amounts, behaviors and motivations of people with a household income greater than $200,000 and/or net worth of at least $1 million, excluding their primary residence. They found that not only do wealthy families give from their own personal income or assets; many also establish charitable giving vehicles and give through private foundations, donor-advised funds and/or charitable trusts. While the economy slowly improves, we see wealthy families continue to give generously of their time and money. High net worth households continued to support charitable organizations at levels that were remarkably consistent with those seen in 2005 and 2007 and more than three-quarters of high net worth households consider themselves experienced with charitable giving and the majority has high levels of trust in nonprofit organizations to solve domestic global problems.
As part of their branding, Supernova Advisors can tell their clients they have “a multigenerational, planning driven, investment process.” And they deliver on this planning; it’s central to their client service model.
100 percent of a Supernova Advisor’s clients have a plan. In many cases, these plans help drive a significant part of the advisor’s growth.
Think about it…
Financial planning is the basis of solid recommendations designed to meet the long-term goals of your clients.
Planning uncovers new opportunities.
Plus, the advisor who controls the plan controls the entire client relationship. Other advisors can only play bit parts.
USA TODAY recently reported that only 31% of Americans have put together a financial plan. The survey found people who have a financial plan feel more confident about their financial future and report more success in managing money, saving and investing.
That’s more success working with you!
A financial plan ought to be a living document. It should never be sitting on a shelf as a display item. For both the financial advisor and the client, the financial plan is the roadmap to financial security.
It is one thing to complete a financial plan and quite another to make sure it is fully implemented. Supernova Advisors recognize the value of financial planning and implement plans on behalf of their clients.
As a financial advisor, you are not simply creating documents or selling plans. You are offering financial guidance and education. You are offering to create an investment portfolio based on careful guidance and understanding of the client’s risk tolerance as well as their investment goals.
That is a key ingredient to your Supernova brand.
Supernova can help you grow your business while taking even better care of your clients. Join the Supernova Advisor Community today and we will show you how to implement ideas like these in your practice.
Seth Godin, marketing guru, separates the different steps of marketing in his blog:
“Most amateurs and citizens believe that marketing is the outer circle. Marketing = advertising, it seems. The job of marketing in this circle is to take what the factory/system/boss gives you and hype it, promote it and yell about it. This is what so many charities, politicians, insurance companies, financial advisors, computer makers and well, just about everyone does.”
Click here to read more on Seth Godin’s blog…
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