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#FA Success Ep 281: Leveraging Tax Planning To Create Unique Value For Small Business Owners, With Duncan Kelm

May 17, 2022 07:01 am 1 Comment CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome back to the 281st episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Duncan Kelm. Duncan is a managing partner for Arrow Point Wealth Management, a hybrid advisory firm based in Santa Rosa, California that oversees $163 million in assets under management for 142 client households.

What's unique about Duncan, though, is how he leverages owning and operating his own tax firm, in addition to his advisory firm, to offer more integrated tax planning and wealth management services to his small business owner clientele.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Duncan leveraged his tax expertise and years as a business consultant to build his own tax firm to offer full-suite tax and financial planning to his clients, how Duncan utilizes his tax business as well as local CPAs to generate leads for prospective wealth management clients, and how Duncan created what he calls ‘Character Insurance’ with his clients to help them define who they are and document their ethos for future generations when they are no longer around.

We also talk about how Duncan fought to become more knowledgeable to prove his worth after transitioning from consulting to an entry-level position at a wirehouse, how Duncan decided to partner with his father to build their own independent firm after he became frustrated with the lack of freedom and opportunities at the wirehouse, and how Duncan struggled to accept becoming his father’s successor as he tried to balance building a career on his own and taking advantage of the partnership opportunity in front of him.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Duncan shares how he drew upon the lessons in mental toughness he learned during his years as an Olympic Rugby player to help him through the difficult transition to owning his firm, how even though Duncan thoroughly enjoyed his prior consulting work he changed his career path to gain more independence and time to spend with his family, and how Duncan lives a philosophy of focusing more on the effort he puts towards achieving life goals than just focusing on the outcome (which usually helps it turn out favorably in the end anyway).

So whether you’re interested in learning about how Duncan utilizes his tax firm to gain referrals for his wealth management firm and provide consolidated tax and financial planning to his clients, how Duncan developed 'Character Insurance’ to help his clients (and himself) express to loved ones what is truly important to them when they’re gone, or how Duncan was able to overcome the challenges of transitioning from a business consultant to a partner at his own firm, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Duncan Kelm.

How Working With The Most Affluent Clients Can Actually Make Advisors Less Happy

May 16, 2022 07:06 am 2 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Psychology

Self-worth can be an important component of an individual’s well-being, but people often base their own sense of self-worth on how they compare with others around them. And because finances are often a part of that comparison, the financial situation of the people we interact with on a regular basis can have a significant effect on how we perceive our own self-worth. For financial advisors, this could mean that comparing themselves to their own clients (who tend to have high incomes and net worth) can have negative effects on how they view their self-worth, especially when they believe that their level of success or income does not measure up to that of their clients.

According to Kitces Research on Advisor Wellbeing, advisors on average do tend to have a high sense of self-worth. But despite being high overall, there is a small but clear pattern in which advisors’ self-worth declines as the net worth of their clients grow, with a steep drop-off coming as clients surpass $2.5M in net worth. Which suggests that being around high-net-worth clients can cause financial advisors to be constantly reminded of those clients’ affluence, and how their own financial status compares.

The effects of social comparison on advisors’ self-worth can also be felt when advisors move ‘upmarket’, serving more affluent clients as they gain experience in their careers. Doing so can cause the advisor to move out of their financial comfort zone, because if they originally served clients who were closer to the advisor’s own peer group and upbringing, moving to serve clients of a different socioeconomic status can cause tension between the advisor’s own values and attitudes toward money and that of the clients they serve. Which can in turn cause the advisor to feel as if they are inadequate to serve their (more affluent) clients’ needs, or unable to relate to those clients’ goals and desires – either of which might cause the advisor to feel dissatisfied with their place in life and consequently lower their sense of self-worth.

It is important, therefore, for advisors to avoid the traps that could cause their self-worth to suffer from over-comparison to their high-net-worth clients (since serving these types of clients is, for many advisors, the hallmark of a successful career). One method is for advisors to mark their own progress over time, not only in terms of income and net worth but also in terms of skills and overall life satisfaction. Comparing our progress and improvement over time by benchmarking against our own past performance can help us feel (just as we often help our clients feel) the satisfaction of making progress toward our goals.

Another way to improve self-worth is for advisors to use their knowledge to help those who are less affluent, such as providing pro-bono financial planning to those who cannot otherwise afford professional advice. Aside from the intrinsic benefits of helping those who are less well-off, this can also serve to balance out the feeling of having only highly affluent clients and can help the advisor feel more confident and useful in their ability to provide valuable, impactful advice.

Ultimately, maintaining a healthy sense of self-worth is key for financial advisors to stay focused on themselves and the positive impact they are providing through their advice. While social comparisons are inevitable – being hard-wired into most of our brains – it is possible to reshape and augment those perceptions by deciding who to compare ourselves to, which gives us the power to determine (and improve) our own self-worth!

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (May 14-15)

May 13, 2022 02:06 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 T3 Technology Conference was held last week after a two-year hiatus, drawing a record crowd to see the latest in advisor technology. The event highlighted the growing data management needs of advisors as well as advisors' interest in ways to better scale their practices while continuing to offer individualized planning to their clients.

Also in industry news this week:

A recent survey shows that the focus of many RIAs remains on attracting ‘mass affluent’ clients through referrals from current clients, perhaps suggesting an opportunity for those willing to break the mold in terms of client wealth or marketing strategies
With many firms looking to diversify the traditionally male-dominated financial advisory industry, the market for female advisors has become increasingly competitive

From there, we have several articles on tax and retirement planning:

While the recent market downturn has created opportunities for advisors to engage in tax-loss harvesting in client accounts, there are several potential pitfalls to avoid
How to find the best solution for clients to make contributions to Roth retirement accounts, no matter their income
Why a contingent deferred annuity might be an appropriate vehicle for clients who want income protection while keeping their assets invested in the market

We also have a number of articles on advisor marketing:

Why webinars can be a valuable lead-generation tool for advisors and how to make them more effective
The key features of advisor websites, from a call to action to credibility indicators, that turn visitors into prospects
Why advisors might want to avoid using the phrase ‘follow-up’ with prospects and an alternative option that could lead to converting more into clients

We wrap up with three final articles, all about saying ‘no’:

How to say ‘no’ firmly and gracefully, whether it is to a friend or a prospective client
Why it is not necessary to make the most out of every minute of the day and how taking time to do nothing and being idle can improve your mental and physical health
How saying ‘no’ can allow advisory firm owners to set their own schedules and work with their optimal clients

Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!

Evaluating Retirement Spending Risk: Monte Carlo Vs Historical Simulations

May 11, 2022 07:03 am 7 Comments CATEGORY: Retirement Planning

Financial advisors often rely on software that uses Monte Carlo simulations to incorporate uncertainty into their retirement income analysis for clients. While Monte Carlo analysis can be a useful tool to examine multiple iterations of potential market returns to forecast how often a given plan may be expected to provide sufficient income for the client throughout their life, there is a lot about Monte Carlo simulation that we are still learning. For instance, advisors may wonder if there is any benefit to increasing the number of Monte Carlo scenarios in their analyses to provide a more accurate picture of the range of potential sequences of returns a client might face.

While financial planning software typically uses 1,000 scenarios, advances in computing make it possible to run 100,000 or even more scenarios within reasonable amounts of time. To examine the potential impact of various numbers of simulated scenarios that could be chosen, we tested how consistent Monte Carlo plan results are when run at different scenario counts and iterated these simulations 100 different times. We find that the variation of sustainable real annual retirement income suggested by simulations running 250 versus 100,000 scenarios varies only by about 1.5% for given levels of spending risk. However, the variation is wider at the extreme tails (0% and 100% risk), which provides some particular considerations for those who might be aiming for as close to 100% probability of success as possible. Ultimately, the results of our first analysis suggest that the common scenario count levels built into Monte Carlo tools today are likely to be adequate to analyze the risk of different spending levels.

Another common concern is how Monte Carlo results might differ from historical simulations. Monte Carlo results are often considered to be more conservative than historical simulations – particularly in the US, where our limited market history contains the rise of the US as a global economic power. In our analyses, we find that the two methods provide differing results in a few notable areas. First, Monte Carlo estimates of sustainable income were significantly lower than income based on historical returns for the worst sequences of returns in the simulations (which give us risk spending levels of 0–4/96–100% probability of success). In other words, Monte Carlo results projected outcomes in extreme negative scenarios that are far worse than any series of returns that have occurred in the past. Similarly, for the best sequences of returns in the simulations, Monte Carlo suggested sustainable income amounts significantly higher than historically experienced (corresponding to spending risk levels of 88–100/probability of success 0–12%). Both results are possibly due to the treatment of returns in consecutive years by Monte Carlo as independent from each other, whereas historical returns have not been independent and do tend to revert to the mean.

Interestingly, Monte Carlo simulations and historical data also diverged at more moderate levels of risk (spending risk levels of 10–60/90–40% probability of success), with Monte Carlo estimating 5–10% more income at each risk level than was historically the case. Which means that, rather than Monte Carlo being more conservative than historical simulation as commonly believed, at common levels used for Monte Carlo simulation (e.g., 70% to 90% probability of success), Monte Carlo simulations might tend to be less conservative compared to historical returns! One way advisors can address this issue is to examine a combination of traditional Monte Carlo, regime-based Monte Carlo (where assumed return rates differ in the short run and the long run but average out to historical norms), and historical simulation to explore a broader range of potential outcomes and triangulate on a recommendation accordingly.

Ultimately, the key point is that while future returns are unknowable, analytic methods such as Monte Carlo and the use of historical returns can both provide advisors more confidence that their clients’ retirement spending will be sustainable. Contrary to popular belief, Monte Carlo simulation can actually be less conservative than historical simulation at levels commonly used in practice. And while current financial planning software generally provides an adequate number of Monte Carlo scenarios, the deviation from historical returns at particular spending risk levels provides some additional insight into why multiple perspectives may be useful for informing retirement income decisions. Which suggests that incorporating tools that use a range of simulation types and data could provide more realistic spending recommendations for clients!

#FA Success Ep 280: Overcoming The Pain Of Scaling: When The Second 100 Clients Is Harder Than The First, With Brian Carney

May 10, 2022 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome back to the 280th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Brian Carney. Brian is a co-founder of RiversEdge Advisors, an independent RIA based in Wilmington, Delaware that oversees over $400 million in assets under management for nearly 300 client households.

What's unique about Brian, though, is how he and his partner dealt with the ‘fortunate’ problem of having rapid growth as their firm gained momentum, rising from $150M to $300M of AUM in just 18 months… and how the associated growing pains led to burnout, losing nearly half their staff, and required them to completely rebuild the infrastructure of the firm to actually be able to get to the next level.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Brian and his partner made a goal in 2018 to double their AUM of $150 million in 5 years and the Center Of Influence referral marketing approach that let them get there in only 18 months, why what should have been a positive of big growth turned into a nightmare of working too-long hours and making staff changes that lost almost half their headcount in just a few months, and how Brian was only able to turn it around by hiring 2 recruiters and 2 consultants, to help not only the then-struggling culture of the firm, but to quickly find the replacement employees they needed who were the right fit and could help the firm get back on track to success.

We also talk about how, despite having an optimistic outlook, Brian struggled to not take it personally as the culture declined at his firm and the bulk of their employees decided to leave, the realization that Brian had that being a manager was just not his nor his partner’s natural skillset and that they needed to hire an Operations Manager to take over those responsibilities, and the weekly Operations and Opportunities meetings that the firm has implemented to get more organized and keep the whole team aligned.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Brian shares how he was surprised even after being in the financial industry for years, how much work and emotions are involved in going from a financial planner to a financial planning business owner, why Brian believes it is important for newer advisors to find a firm that can provide the space for them to concentrate more on their client relationships and less on prospecting, and how even though Brian has faced many challenges in scaling his firm, he and his partner are ready to set even bigger growth goals in the future… now that they’ve made the key hires they needed to get there.

So, whether you’re interested in learning about how Brian and his firm were able to attain rapid growth in only 18 months, how Brian handled a decline in firm culture and nearly losing all his employees, or how Brian and his partner pivoted to attract new talent and set up the firm for even greater success, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Brian Carney.

A Career Changer’s Guide To Becoming A Financial Advisor: Career Paths, Preparation, Education, Costs, And More!

May 9, 2022 07:01 am 8 Comments CATEGORY: Personal/Career Development

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many workers to consider changing careers, perhaps for greater pay or flexibility. For those with an interest in personal finance and helping others, a career change into the financial advice industry could be an attractive option, particularly given that financial advisors generally report having a strong sense of wellbeing and that they have the potential to earn significantly more than the national median income. And with all of the ways that aspiring advisors can enter the profession, career changers have many factors to consider, including the type of work and career path they would ultimately like to pursue. Because the various financial advice career tracks come with different education and certification requirements, this decision will influence the career changer’s path as they pursue their first job in the industry.

For aspiring planners who want to work directly with clients but who don’t yet have leads of their own or experience with business-development strategies, one option is to start at a firm that assigns clients to advisors (so that the advisor can focus on practicing their financial planning advice skills as they learn how to generate new clients for the firm). Career changers who already have business-development experience (or who have access to many potential clients) might instead prefer to find a firm where they will be responsible for pursuing their own clients. Still, other career changers might want to eventually start their own firm; while this may allow for the greatest autonomy, this option also comes with the greatest financial risk (as the advisor will be entirely responsible for making up income lost after leaving their previous job!). For career changers who want to work in the industry but do not want to work directly with clients, pursuing a career track that allows them to construct financial plans and develop recommendations (without presenting them to the client) could be the best option.

After deciding which career path best suits them, a career changer can pursue the education and credentials that will help them stand out to potential employers and clients. For many, the first step will be to complete a broad financial planning education program to gain the technical knowledge needed to be a successful advisor. There are also designations (e.g., the CFP certification) and specialized training programs that can serve as a signal to future employers and clients that they have the skills and dedication to be effective advisors. Next, constructing a plan that makes the transition as smooth as possible (e.g., scheduling out time for classes, training, and job hunting; and budgeting the financial costs of a transition into financial advising) can help the advisor manage a potential salary reduction (for those pursuing an employee position) or foregone income (for those starting their own firm) as they get up to speed in their new career.

Ultimately, the key point is that while a career change into financial planning can be a fulfilling decision, it is important to plan in advance to ensure a smooth transition, from considering what kind of role in the industry is of interest to the education and credentials needed for that career track. Because with proper preparation, the career changer can increase the chances that they will not only have a good first job in the industry, but also have a successful long-term career in financial advice!