Practical Wisdom from ACP Financial Advisors

One of the challenges of fiduciary financial planning is how to best communicate with clients. You'd like your clients to tell you more about their financial lives, but they might be afraid of wasting your time if they think of you as just a professional specialist. You also want them to understand your own confidence and professional advice, but without their eyes glazing over from jargon. How can you talk with your clients in a way that helps you provide the greatest value? Our guest, Chip Simon, CFP®, Founder of Taconic Advisors, discusses how to talk with your clients so they, and you, will be confident that you’re heading in the right direction.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Chip Simon, please visit www.TaconicAdvisors.com

AUM model, commissions, hourly fee, flat fee, retainer model... there are so many ways that financial advisors charge for their services these days that it's sometimes very confusing for consumers and hard to know which will serve them best. The same can be said for advisors themselves - which model is going to allow your business to thrive and serve clients to the fullest? Our guest, Jake Kuebler, CFP®, EA, Owner and Managing Partner of Bluestem Financial Advisors, explains the benefits of the retainer model and why it's often the best choice for advisors and their clients.

Jake is the co-author (along with host Ken Robinson) of the whitepaper 'The Financial Planners' Retainer: A Reflection of Real Value' (https://www.acplanners.org/consumer/media/retainer-model).

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Jake Kuebler, please visit www.BluestemFA.com

Recorded on location at ACP's Annual Conference held October 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia, this special episode is a collage of ideas from a sampling of ACP financial planners. Advisors were asked to discuss a challenge faced during the pandemic and how they successfully moved through and resolved the issue, or the top lesson they learned for running a successful advisory practice during the pandemic. Ten members are featured here, offering thoughts on virtual client communications, working remotely, volatile markets, mindfulness, self-care, industry organizations, helpful software and fintech solutions, recruiting solutions, and more.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org.

ACP members featured in this episode:

Frankie Corrado, CFP®, RLP®, Managing Director, Principal at Robertson Stephens;

Sheila Padden, CPA, CFP®, RLP®, Founder of Padden Financial Planning;

Linda Leitz, CFP®, EA, President of Peace of Mind Financial Planning;

Dani Parris-Exline, AFC®, Financial Advisor at Peace of Mind Financial Planning;

Jane Young, CFP®, EA, President of More Than Your Money, Inc.;

Kelly Adams, CFP®, RLP®, EA, Founder of Harbor Light Planning;

Mike Stanton, CFP®, Principal of Stanton Financial Planning;

Ross Schmidt, President of Aspen Wealth Planners;

Anabel Diaz, CFP®, Financial Associate at Natural Bridges Financial Advisors;

Bert Whitehead, MBA, JD, Founder of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners;

Ken Robinson, CFP®, JD, Founder of Practical Financial Planning

Should you include tax planning in your offerings? Maybe even (gasp!) tax preparation? Join our guest, Timothy Caban, EA, CFP®, Founder of Copper Beech Advisors, as he tells us why he started out not wanting to provide tax planning, but now relishes it as one indispensable part of his firm and the value he provides for his clients.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Tim Caban, please visit www.CopperBeechAdvisors.com.

A career as a fee-only planner may begin with a job in an existing practice. What’s it like as the planner's role evolves from entry-level to owner? Join us and our guest Alicia Klein, CFP®, EA, Senior Planner and Partner at Cambridge Financial Group, as she takes us on her journey from her first steps in the profession to becoming the second of three partners in her firm.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Alicia Klein, please visit www.CambridgeFinancialGroup.com.

There are many paths financial planners can take on the way to their calling. What's it like to to make the change from serving large organizations with business goals, to working with individuals and all their concerns, anxieties, and ambitions? Join us as Financial Life Planner Laura Rotter, CFA, MBA, CFP®, founder of True Abundance Advisors, describes how she left a career of 30 years managing money for some of the country's largest institutions to help her clients focus on the things that matter most in their lives.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Laura Rotter, please visit www.TrueAbundanceAdvisors.com.

Many fee-only planners build their own practices from scratch, or with client relationships developed at a prior employer. But what's it like to buy an established practice from someone else? Join us as Irfan Bhabhrawala, CFP®, Owner of Arbor Financial in Ann Arbor, Michigan, describes his experience seeking a firm to advise a family member. In time, he joined that same firm as an employee and then bought it from his family's advisor.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Irfan Bhabhrawala, please visit www.ArborFinancial.com.

Staffing and succession are significant challenges for small financial planning firms. Should an owner bring their adult child into the business, or does it make things even tougher? Join ACP Board Past President Lois Basil, CFP®, founder of Basil Financial Group, and Hannah Basil Bryant, CFP®, as they explain the process and unique challenges of working together as mother and daughter, and as fiduciary financial planning professionals.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Lois Basil and Hannah Basil Bryant, please visit www.BasilFinancialGroup.com.

What makes an exemplary financial planning business? How do you provide unbiased fiduciary advice and excellent client service while growing your client base, advancing the industry, and giving back to your community? Hear Kristen Moosmiller, EA, CFP®, founder and managing partner of NorthAvenue Financial Advocates, describe the journey that's led her and her business partner to the kind of financial planning practice that many professionals wish they had.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Kristen Moosmiller, please visit www.NorthAvenueFA.com.

Helping clients with their financial lives is a lot like helping them see the picture on the outside of the jigsaw puzzle box when they’re only looking at the individual pieces. Our guest, Cordi Powell, CFP®, EA, trained as a medical doctor before deciding she had more important goals in life. The founder of Favored Financial Planning, Cordi helps her clients see the big picture so they can confidently make important decisions in their financial lives.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Cordi Powell, please visit www.FavoredFP.com.