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#FASuccess Ep 440: Making Client Meetings More Consistent Across Multiple Advisors By Utilizing A “Money Personality” Assessment, With Nina Hajjar

June 3, 2025 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 440th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Nina Hajjar. Nina is a partner of Stratos CA, a hybrid advisory firm affiliated with Stratos Wealth Partners and based in Los Angeles, California, that oversees approximately $500 million in assets under management for 300 client households.

What's unique about Nina, though, is how she has developed a "money personality" assessment that allows her to both better understand how her clients' money behaviors might affect the financial planning process and to ensure consistent client service among the advisors at her firm.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Nina's assessment categorizes clients into one of six different personality types (for example, "dream chaser" or "safety seeker"), which helps her and her team learn how her clients are likely to respond to different planning scenarios and recommendations, how Nina pairs the money personality assessment with a complementary risk tolerance survey (which she uses to help craft appropriate investment portfolios), and how Nina approaches training advisors for what she calls the "art of the meeting" (giving clients the type of service they need by incorporating the lessons learned from their money personality assessments).

We also talk about how Nina has grown her firm in part through three acquisitions (finding that integrating the new firm and retaining its clients is easier when the selling advisor is looking for a good match for their clients), how Nina has structured acquisitions to incentivize selling firm owners to transition a high percentage of their clients and assets to the new firm (while protecting her firm's financial interests), and why Nina has found value by acquiring firms with an older client base (not only for their often high level of assets, but also for the opportunity to have contact with their beneficiaries who stand to inherit down the line and could bring more assets into the firm).

And be certain to listen to the end, where Nina shares the lessons she's learned from hiring employees (including the importance of getting the timing, compensation structure, and job description right for each hire), how Nina's own experience working with a therapist has helped her better understand the psychological challenges her clients face when it comes to money, and how Nina has found that her best business decisions have been made when she trusts her intuition (whether in terms of the types of people she works with or potential acquisitions she's considering).

So, whether you're interested in learning about using a "money personality" assessment to better understand clients' money behaviors and ensure consistent client service across multiple advisors in a firm, the opportunities and potential pitfalls of advisory firm acquisitions, or the key elements to making a good hire, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Nina Hajjar.

Finmate AI And PreciseFP Integration Expedites Transfer Of Client Meeting Data To Financial Planning Software (And More Of The Latest In Financial #AdvisorTech – June 2025)

June 2, 2025 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

Welcome to the June 2025 issue of the Latest News in Financial #AdvisorTech – where we look at the big news, announcements, and underlying trends and developments that are emerging in the world of technology solutions for financial advisors!

This month's edition kicks off with the news that FinmateAI has announced a new integration with PreciseFP, which will allow financial planning data that's collected in advisory meetings (like balance sheet, cash flow, and savings information) to be pushed out to PreciseFP, and from there be sent on to financial planning software like eMoney and RightCapital (and specialized planning tools like Income Lab and Holistiplan) via PreciseFP's existing integrations – which represents one of the first steps by an AI meeting note tool to integrate with advisor technology outside of CRM and email platforms, and raises the question of whether more meeting note providers will follow suit (or build their own direct integrations to financial planning software rather than doing so indirectly through PreciseFP)?

From there, the latest highlights also feature a number of other interesting advisor technology announcements, including:

AdvicePay, a provider of client billing solutions for flat-fee advisors, has acquired AdvisorBOB, which helps RIAs efficiently calculate and facilitate payouts to their advisors, giving AdvicePay a solution that covers the entire client revenue cycle (from the time the client is billed until the fee is split and paid out to the advisor and RIA) and also covers a larger segment of the RIA market (since while AdvicePay only covers flat-fee billing, AdvisorBOB can handle payouts for both flat-fee and AUM models)
Betterment has acquired Rowboat Advisors, a direct indexing and tax optimization technology provider, as part of a broader push to serve higher-net-worth clients of financial advisors through more flexibility and tax-aware portfolio management features – although the question going forward is whether advisors will really want to bring their HNW clients to Betterment given its reputation as a platform best suited for less-complex clients (or whether it's even a good idea for Betterment to diverge from its well established brand to compete with the likes of Addepar and Black Diamond)?
Zoe Financial has announced a $29.6M Series B fundraising round, highlighting how Zoe has found an effective way to monetize its ability to generate leads not only by referring them to advisors (for which advisors pay 15%-35% of the revenue that they earn from the leads who sign on as clients) but also by serving smaller clients itself (who otherwise wouldn't be able to work with most of the firms on Zoe's platform) via its robo-TAMP platform

Read the analysis about these announcements in this month's column, and a discussion of more trends in advisor technology, including:

CFP Board has announced the launch of a new CFP Practice Exam App, a bank of AI-generated (and human-reviewed) practice questions for candidates studying for the CFP exam – which is helpful as an exam prep tool to either supplement or serve as a less-expensive alternative to other comprehensive review programs, but also raises questions about whether CFP Board intends to start competing with third party exam prep providers (which could quash competition in that space since most candidates would likely opt for the "official" CFP Board version)
Vanguard is testing out a new feature that allows advisors to generate client-friendly bullet-point summaries of Vanguard's quarterly market commentary, including the feature of giving advisors several dropdown options to choose from to tailor the summary the way they want it (e.g., client's financial acumen, age, and formal or conversational tone) – which is helpful for advisors who would rather not use an open-ended chatbot interface to generate client communication (which requires learning and practicing the prompts necessary to get the output that the user needs)

And be certain to read to the end, where we have provided an update to our popular "Financial AdvisorTech Solutions Map" (and also added the changes to our AdvisorTech Directory) as well!

*To submit a request for inclusion or updates on the Financial Advisor FinTech Solutions Map and AdvisorTech Directory, please share information on the solution at the AdvisorTech Map submission form.

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (May 31–June 1)

May 30, 2025 01:54 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 a recent survey of financial advisory firm employees found that about half of respondents are currently working in the office five days a week, with the remainder divided among hybrid formats or full-time work from home. Notably, the survey identified differences in workplace flexibility by role (with client-facing advisors working more days per week in the office) and by experience (with newer firm employees more likely to have more in-office days each week). Altogether, the survey suggests that after firms operated remotely for a certain period during the pandemic, many are taking the opportunity to establish work location policies that fit the needs of their business, employees, and clients alike.

Also in industry news this week:

In the continued absence of formal SEC guidance on advisory firm use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), many firms are taking a curious, but cautious, approach toward adopting AI-powered tools
A recent report identifies the growing total wealth controlled by women in the U.S. and offers strategies for firms to tap into this potential business opportunity

From there, we have several articles on retirement planning:

A study finds that, on average, retirees' satisfaction with their financial situation tends to increase with age, potentially offsetting the average decline in consumption compared to their pre-retirement years
Why 'life upgrades' could be an effective way to encourage hesitant clients to spend more money in retirement
How advisors can help clients live more prosperous lives by dispelling retirement spending myths that clients might have internalized

We also have a number of articles on working with client couples:

How advisors can effectively work with each member of client couples when one partner serves as the household 'CFO'
Tactics for encouraging client couples to hold regular money check-ins between meetings with their advisor to improve communication and vision setting
Four questions advisors can ask client couples to discover underlying risk tolerance differences between partners

We wrap up with three final articles, all about spring cleaning:

How decluttering one's life can extend beyond physical items to include the information they consume and the obligations they take on
How leaders can reduce their workload even when they've delegated as many tasks as possible
Seven essential processes that can allow financial advisory firms to run more efficiently and productively

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

Kitces & Carl Ep 165: Finding Repeatable Conversations To Explain Complex Concepts More Understandably To Clients

May 29, 2025 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Kitces & Carl Podcast

Kitces & Carl Ep Finding Repeatable Conversations To Explain Complex Concepts More Understandably To Clients

Financial planning is inherently complex, especially when it comes to data gathering, analysis, and crafting well-reasoned recommendations. But delivering those recommendations in a way that clients can understand and act on is a separate skill. Advisors not only need to do the deep technical work, they also need to translate that complexity into clarity – a step that can be surprisingly time-consuming and cognitively demanding. And when an advisor is already managing a full schedule, carving out the time to make the message clear can be a real challenge. So how can advisors ensure that their advice is both comprehensive and simple enough to be truly actionable?

In this 165th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards explore how advisors can simplify the delivery of complex advice and why doing so is such a critical (and often underdeveloped) skill. While clients don't necessarily need to understand the full depth of the analysis behind a recommendation, they do need to trust that the analysis has been done thoroughly and clearly understand what the advice is, why it matters, and what's being asked of them. Because when advice is clear and comprehensible, clients are more likely to act on it and gain peace of mind from knowing there's a well-considered strategy in place!

One way to simplify delivery is to build meetings around a single core takeaway. For example, if someone stopped a client in the parking lot after the meeting and asked what they talked about with their advisor, what would the advisor want them to say? That question can help clarify the central message and shape meetings around what matters most. From there, additional sub-points can be layered in, while reinforcing the main takeaway to ensure the client walks away with a clear understanding of what to do next.

Visual aids can also help advisors clarify complexity and reinforce key messages. Summary charts or graphics – especially for topics that come up repeatedly (e.g., investment strategies or tax planning) – can reduce cognitive overload for clients and keep meetings on track. And because these conversations tend to repeat across clients, visuals offer leverage: the upfront time spent finding or customizing a helpful chart can pay off many times over. Fortunately, advisors don't need to start from scratch. A growing number of FinTech companies – like Holistiplan, Income Lab, fpPathfinder, and Clearnomics – offer ready-made illustrations to help make advice more understandable for clients.

Ultimately, the key point is that simplifying financial advice is not a simple task – but it is a skill that can be developed over time. The goal isn't simplicity for its own sake, but clarity. By combining communication strategies with technology solutions and approaching each meeting with one clear takeaway in mind, advisors can deliver recommendations that aren't just technically sound, but truly understandable and far easier for clients to act on!

“ReFire” Instead Of ‘Just’ Retire: A Framework To Help Clients Plan For Purpose In Retirement

May 28, 2025 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Retirement Planning

Retirement has long been associated with leisure, relaxation, and winding down from a long career. But as more individuals confront the emotional realities of this life transition, many find that the absence of structure, socialization, and identity once provided by work can create a gap that traditional retirement planning doesn't fully address.

In this guest post, Kathleen Rehl, a "ReFired" financial advisor and educator in legacy planning, shares a framework to help advisors guide clients through this transition using a more expansive "ReFirement" lens. Drawing from her own encore career and decades of client experience, Kathleen illustrates how retirement can be reframed not as an end, but as a beginning – one centered on fulfillment, self-exploration, and purpose. While the core elements of traditional retirement planning remain (e.g., income streams, cash flow, and lifestyle support), ReFirement builds on this foundation to explore evolving values and aspirations, with the goal of living more intentionally.

Yet even clients who are financially prepared may feel anxious or uncertain about what comes next. ReFirement addresses these concerns by blending financial planning with conversations that create space for safe, reflective exploration. Instead of viewing retirement as a retreat from productivity, clients are invited to see it as a launchpad for creativity, contribution, and personal growth. For many, this phase brings a complex emotional landscape – including grief, identity shifts, or even a lingering sense of disconnection – which can be difficult to process without thoughtful support.

To help clients move forward, advisors can introduce practical tools that invite personal reflection and visualization. These include growth mindset prompts, values exercises, and legacy planning templates designed to help clients clarify what matters most. For example, visual activities like the "Touchstone Poster" or a guided values-ranking worksheet can help clients reconnect with forgotten passions or explore new aspirations. Whether they're exploring mentorship opportunities, creative outlets, or philanthropic goals, many clients find surprising clarity simply by having the space to reflect. Importantly, advisors don't have to guide this process alone – resources from organizations such as the Financial Transitionist Institute (FTI), Money Quotient, and George Kinder's EVOKE Process offer structure to support more meaningful planning conversations. Kathleen also shares a checklist of open-ended prompts that can serve as a roadmmap to help clients envision what a "ReFired" retirement might look like.

Ultimately, the key point is that ReFirement offers a richer, more expansive vision for what retirement can be – not just a phase of rest, but a new opportunity for growth, contribution, and renewal. By helping clients align their financial strategies with their evolving values and aspirations, advisors can create space for deeper conversations and more rewarding outcomes. And in doing so, they don't just prepare clients for what's next; they empower them to step into it with clarity and confidence, and a renewed sense of purpose and joy!

#FASuccess Ep 439: Scaling Financial Planning With Monday.com As A Project Management Hub In Lieu Of Wealthbox CRM, With Alvin Carlos

May 27, 2025 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 439th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Alvin Carlos. Alvin is the CEO of District Capital Management, an RIA based in Washington, D.C., that generates $850,000 of annual, primarily retainer-based, revenue serving 155 client households.

What's unique about Alvin, though, is how he has grown his firm by using project management software Monday.com as a central hub for financial plan presentations and efficient client task management.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Alvin uses Monday.com alongside financial planning software RightCapital (which he uses to run planning projections) to create a task board of common planning recommendations (and the subtasks needed to complete them) to efficiently present clients' financial plans and track their progress completing follow-on tasks, why Alvin recently switched from Wealthbox to Monday.com as his CRM (as he was attracted by Monday's ability for it to seamlessly connect with its project management functionality as well as its mass emailing capabilities), and how Alvin uses AI meeting notes tool Krisp to prepare meeting summaries, transcripts, and lists of action items (and how he found it to be more cost effective than planning-industry-specific notetaking tools).

We also talk about how Alvin is able to profitably serve clients in their 30s and 40s with a primarily retainer-based model by charging a fee based in part on the complexity of their planning needs, how Alvin is able to achieve his goal of serving clients from a variety of financial circumstances by charging a “market price” for higher-income clients and then discounting this fee for those at lower income levels, and how Alvin tracks his firm's Labor Efficiency Ratio to link his staff costs to the revenue they are able to generate (giving him a better idea of when he can bring on new employees while meeting his profitability targets).

And be certain to listen to the end, where Alvin shares how he has used search engine optimization tactics to rise up the search rankings in his local area in part by writing blog posts on the key questions his ideal target clients are asking (and incorporating the keywords they are most likely to search), how Alvin and his business have benefited from joining a local entrepreneur's group (which provides him with both business coaching and peer accountability), and how Alvin has been surprised about how much he has come to enjoy running his business (beyond the actual financial planning work) and how it allows him to create new jobs in the financial planning industry.

So, whether you're interested in learning about using project management software to prepare financial plans and manage follow-on tasks, key metrics to determine firm productivity, or how to leverage content to rise up local search rankings, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Alvin Carlos.