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Managing $240M As A 3-Person Team Through A Structured Meeting Approach: #FASuccess Ep 502 With Wendy Ciehanski

August 11, 2026 07:06 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Wendy Ciehanski Podcast Featured Image FAS

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 502nd episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Wendy Ciehanski. Wendy is a senior wealth advisor within the RIA Composition Wealth, where her Columbus, Ohio-based practice oversees approximately $240 million in assets under management for 156 client households.

What's unique about Wendy, though, is how she and her advisor partner (who is also her husband) have built their practice as part of a three-person team in part by using a structured meeting approach that they have implemented and iterated on for 20 years.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Wendy uses a review meeting agenda that features both the client's current focus (including life and family updates, portfolio performance, and potential changes affecting their plan) as well as a look to the future (including economic commentary and to-dos), how Wendy uses the back side of the agenda to record any changes to the client's goals, risk profile, asset allocation, or securities holdings resulting from the meeting, and how Wendy has found that the focus of her clients' review meetings has shifted over the years from portfolio performance to life events (and their financial planning implications).

We also talk about how Wendy sets client review meetings on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual cadence based on the client's needs and preferences (and not necessarily the assets they bring to the table), how Wendy structures her week by holding meetings between Tuesday and Thursday, leaving room for meeting prep and review on Monday and Friday, and how Wendy and her husband leverage their client service associate to both ensure all post-meeting tasks are taken care of (including digitizing any manual notes) and by also building personal relationships with clients.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Wendy shares why she and her husband decided to pursue a merger with a larger firm rather than maintain their independent practice, the factors Wendy and her husband considered when narrowing down potential suitors (including the size of the firm, the resources that would be available to them, and the expectation that they would continue serving their current clients for the foreseeable future), and how the decision to merge has proven successful by ultimately giving Wendy more time to focus on doing what she does best in serving her clients.

So, whether you're interested in learning about creating standardized meeting agendas that provide continuity for clients, managing a meeting cadence that meets both advisor and client needs, or thinking through succession planning and factors that can contribute to a successful merger, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Wendy Ciehanski.

Your Feedback Requested – Reader Survey For Nerd’s Eye View (2026)

August 10, 2026 07:04 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Nerd's Eye View

As financial advisors, we are no stranger to the incredible benefits of long-term compounding. From the fact that a future retiree can save $1M by 'just' saving $300/month and investing it into a diversified growth portfolio that can grow at 8% annual for 40 years from age 25 to 65. To the illustration in James Clear’s "Atomic Habits" book that improving a mere 1% per day in what you do can cumulatively compound to a 37X(!) increase in results over the span of a year (or a mere 12X increase if you only improve on working days 😊).

From the business perspective, we (as many organizations) embrace this at Kitces.com by always looking for opportunities to make incremental "1% better" improvements to what we deliver to the financial advicer community, the platform that we’ve built to deliver it, and how we operate the business internally. With the caveat that, particularly in an era where AI can expedite the building of almost anything, the biggest question is not whether improvements can be achieved, but which improvements in particular are most important to focus on first.

And so every year, we ask you – our readers – to take a brief survey and provide your feedback about what you want to make this website even better for you, to ensure we stay on the right track in adding value to the financial planning community and pursuing our mission to make financial advicers better and more successful. And especially after the amount of change over the past few years, from expanding with our new "Financial Advisor Technician" podcasts (and creating a new industry-wide "Best Advisor Podcasts" list), to building an Advisor Services Map to complement our popular AdvisorTech Map, to the expansion of our Annual Tax CE Intensive to pair with our Annual (IAR) Ethics CE Day and most recently the rollout of our new "Level Up" case-study-based training program for newer advisors… we’re more eager than ever for your feedback about how we’re doing, where we can improve, your thoughts about some new ideas we’re considering, and your feedback about what else we could be doing to help the advicer community.

Because we really do take your feedback seriously. Over the years, Nerd’s Eye View reader feedback has shaped everything from the visual design of the blog (from its original dense small font!), to the ongoing expansion of our Members section from offering CFP to now CPE credits for CPAs and IAR CE for RIAs that can be earned by reading Nerd's Eye View blog articles (and now listening to the Financial Advisor Technician podcast!), the launch of the Financial Advisor Success and Kitces & Carl podcasts, our popular "Master List" of all the major Financial Advisor conferences and Best Books for Advisors, and now the coming design refresh of our Nerd’s Eye View blog later this year.

So regardless of what kind of reader you are: an advisor or someone who works in an advisory firm home office, an individual consumer who reads this blog for your own benefit, a CPA, attorney, or another related professional that works with financial advisors, or you're associated with a vendor who serves advisors... I hope you'll participate in this year's survey. It's only 12 feedback questions, should take no more than a few minutes, and will remain open until September 4, 2026.

Thanks in advance for taking a few minutes to access our Reader Survey below, and share your feedback! 😊

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (August 8–9)

August 7, 2026 02:00 pm 0 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news that the latest "Mind the Gap" report from Morningstar finds that investors in U.S. equity mutual funds and ETFs both tended to achieve stronger returns compared to those in other fund categories during the 10 years ending in 2025 and had a narrower return 'gap' (representing the difference between the fund's total return and the actual return received by investors, who might trade in and out of the fund over time). Notably, negative return 'gaps' were larger for more volatile categories such as alternatives and sector equity (and for Bitcoin ETFs in particular, where the funds themselves achieved a positive return, but the average dollar invested in them had a negative return). Which suggests that financial advisors could have a valuable role to play not only in recommending an asset allocation for their clients, but also in helping them stay the course with it over time!

Also in industry news this week:

A report finds that RIAs looking to hire are often willing to be flexible on a range of 'required' client attributes listed in job descriptions, including credentials and years of experience
While advisory firms might maintain high client retention rates, they can still see assets managed decline based on client decumulation and other factors, according to data from Cerulli Associates, highlighting the value of attracting new clients (even for firms not in 'growth mode')

From there, we have several articles on Roth conversions:

How using a net present value calculation can help show both the potential value of a (partial) Roth conversion as well as when clients might expect to receive a positive return on the 'investment' made to complete it
Six questions to ask when considering making a Roth conversion, from how the client will pay any taxes due on the conversion to their proximity to key income thresholds for certain deductions, credits, and surcharges
Why IRMAA bracket management can be an important consideration when deciding whether to engage in a (partial) Roth conversion in a given year (and how much to convert)

We also have a number of articles on estate planning:

How financial advisors can support prospects and clients who recently received an inheritance (and why they might not start jumping into planning recommendations right away)
How the struggle of dealing with "heirs' property" and the importance of executing proper legal documents when passing down real estate (particularly when multiple heirs are involved)
The pros and cons of passing down assets before and/or after an individual passes away

We wrap up with three final articles, all about lessons learned from running an advisory firm:

One advisory firm founder's reflections on 10 years in business, including the challenges of transitioning from 'growth' mode to 'maintenance' mode
After 11 years in business, a founder breaks down revenue and expense data to identify the key decisions and tradeoffs he'll face in the years ahead
7 lessons an advisory firm founder learned during years 3–5 of his business, from time management to narrowing down his ideal client personas

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

When ‘Feelings Are Data’ To Navigate Clients’ Financial Planning Trade-Offs: Kitces & Carl 196

August 6, 2026 07:05 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Kitces & Carl Podcast

Kitces & Carl Ep When 'Feelings Are Data'

Some decisions are largely matters of data and analysis. Yet more often, that analysis informs a decision with trade-offs, such as funding retirement or education. Given that we all work with limited resources, financial data is crucial to inform how each dollar may function in these circumstances… yet the data does not produce the definitive right answer. Which raises questions about the 'other' type of data: feelings.

In this 196th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards discuss what place feelings have as a point of information, data, and analysis to help reveal what 'truly' matters. After all, the reality is that gut feelings, physical sensations, or a lingering sense that something is off often represent subconscious recognition of factors that have not yet been fully articulated. Yet a feeling, on its own, is not the end of the journey. Rather, it is the beginning of an excuse to become curious about what is causing those feelings that may have been overlooked. (For example, if a business opportunity looks good on paper, but the advisor's 'gut' isn't quite bought in, then that signals an invitation for self-examination.)

The good news is that asking questions about what their 'gut' says doesn't have to be complex. Questions as simple as, "What do you think of that option? How does feel?" with a few follow-up questions is often enough to get the conversation started without feeling 'over the top'. This is especially important as a client's goals may not reflect what they 'really' want subconsciously, so the advisor may be able to find and follow the thread of intuition with the client.

On the other hand, it's also important to remember that gut feelings come from everywhere, such as exhaustion, intimidation, and even socialization about what a person 'should' want, so a feeling of hesitation may not be related to the decision itself. Yet even these feelings are data in their own right; they're just signals related to different adjustments that may be needed!

Ultimately, the key point is that drawing the deeper information within feelings often takes considerable time and effort – but it is nonetheless worthwhile. Aligning gut feelings with analytical data is often the key to making decisions that are both fulfilling and sustainable in the long-term. Often, the key to this information comes down to contemplation, time, and well-placed questions… but with practice, this becomes easier both for the advisor (to ask) and the client (to answer), creating positive momentum in their decision-making process!

When Clients Won’t Sell: What Actually Helps Clients Let Go (Of The Endowment Effect)

August 5, 2026 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Psychology

As human beings, most of us have a hard time letting go, especially in cases where we have held something for a long time and formed a personal attachment to it. From the treasured (blue) coffee mug, to the t-shirt we got at that concert, to the higher-stakes situations like the family home we've lived in for years, or the company stock we've built up over decades that made it possible to retire. The good news is that our human tendency to create attachment enables us to invest into ourselves and our community. The bad news is that it can create a resistance to change. Such an unwillingness to sell is especially problematic in situations like real estate or concentrated stock positions, which create real financial planning hazards that advisors must help their clients navigate.

In this guest post, Dr. Meghaan Lurtz, a leading expert on the psychology of financial planning and Professor of Practice at Kansas State University, explores the research behind this phenomenon (known formally as the "endowment effect"), how it typically manifests in financial planning situations with clients, and more importantly what financial advisors can actually do to help their clients get more comfortable with selling an asset that needs to be sold.

The endowment effect is complicated, though, because it's actually driven by three different mechanisms, any one of which (or sometimes a combination thereof) may be at play in any particular situation. In some cases, it's driven by loss aversion – the recognition that the pain of loss is twice as impactful as the joy of a comparable gain, which causes us to ask a lot more when selling something than we would ever pay to buy it. In other cases, our own identity gets tangled up into the situation… such as the concentrated stock position that was accumulated through years of employment, making it more difficult to sell since we feel that we earned it through the fruits of our labor and our success as a career professional. And sometimes, it's simply a result of different anchor points between buyers and sellers: when we're asked to let go we often think of the highest price it could be worth (e.g., what the most expensive property on the street ever sold for), while the buyer looks at how inexpensively it might be obtained (e.g., what the least expensive property in the area went for).

Being aware of when these dynamics are at play is important, because the emotionally driven phenomenon is not responsive to logic as a cure. Which means it's not enough to simply know that the endowment effect is at play, and it's especially unhelpful to communicate it that way to clients, as suggesting that their unwillingness to sell is ‘a result of their biases' is more likely to elicit defensiveness than a concession that they need to take action.

So what does work? Psychology research on the endowment effect suggests several paths. One approach is to have clients envision what their future life might look like, after a sale has already occurred, to help them get comfortable with being on the other side of the sale. Another option is to encourage them to capture a memento – from the doorknocker or a key piece of art from the family home they're selling, to perhaps a framed stock certificate of that company stock they held so long (and are now getting ready to liquidate) – to diminish the pain of the loss by having something to keep. Other tactics include working alongside with the client to re-anchor to a realistic price in the current environment (e.g., "Let's look together… at what comps are selling for" or "…at what price it's trading today"), trying to help the client get familiar with who will be on the receiving end of the sale (e.g., get to know the family that's looking to buy and move into your family home), or simply asking, "What do you think you'll lose if you let this go – not financially, but emotionally?" so the client can surface and start thinking through their own worries.

Ultimately, the key point is to recognize that an unwillingness to sell something we've had a long time and/or formed an attachment to is normal, is human, and is not simply a matter of showing enough logic to ‘prove the point' that it's a good financial planning decision to sell (even if that really is the case). Instead, because the reality is that the endowment effect is first and foremost an emotionally driven phenomenon, helping clients unearth that emotion, name it, and do their own work to begin working through it is the better way to help them begin to let go and engage in the sale of the asset.

And if you want to go deeper on this topic, hear directly from the author on the Financial Advisor Technician podcast .

Navigating Succession Planning That Doesn’t Turn Out As Expected (Even When You’re Doing Everything Right): #FASuccess Ep 501 With Rick Kahler

August 4, 2026 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 501st episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Rick Kahler. Rick is the founder of Kahler Financial Group, an RIA based in Rapid City, South Dakota, that oversees approximately $300 million in assets under management for 130 client households.

What's unique about Rick, though, is how he, despite taking all of the 'right' steps when it comes to succession planning, ended up having multiple false starts before eventually completing a deal with an external buyer.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Rick started succession planning more than a decade before he planned to transition his firm (including by identifying a potential successor, meeting with valuation consultants, and gathering the experiences of others in the advisory community), why Rick thought it was important to closely discuss the terms of the partnership agreement to ensure that he and his chosen successor were on the same page in terms of what would happen if plans went awry, and how Rick's planned successor after several years ultimately chose not to pursue this succession path, leaving him left to start over again.

We also talk about how Rick's second attempt at an internal succession was thwarted when a long-time employee (and planned successor) was headhunted away by an attractive salary offer, how Rick then worked with consultants to rank his succession preferences and widened his aperture for different types of potential partners, and how Rick ultimately decided on a deal with a local accounting firm he knew well.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Rick shares the challenges he's experienced following the deal (including managing cultural differences between his firm and the buyer as well as his personal adjustment to no longer being in charge of the business), how Rick has found great value from maintaining a support network (including study groups, therapists, and business coaches) during this challenging period, and how Rick has ultimately accepted the unexpected turns that came his way on his succession path and doesn't have regrets about the decisions that he made along the way.

So, whether you're interested in learning about the unexpected bumps that can arise during a seemingly well-planned succession, how firm personnel (and their own career aspirations) play an important role in a founder's succession plan, or how to build a support network that can prove valuable when times get tough, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Rick Kahler.