This week a woman, whom I had never met before, came up to me and said,
“I heard from a friend that you are a brilliant financial planner, but I have one. They told me they were good too and then they took my portfolio for a bad ride!”
OKAY, so this is what happens EVERY TIME I tell someone what I do for a living (or in this case, before I tell someone what I do for a living!?! …again, these were the first few words out of her mouth – I didn’t even ask or open my mouth…{yes, there is a first for everything people!})
I mention I’m a FINANCIAL PLANNER and INSTANTLY most people will naturally spew out to me what FINANCIAL PLANNING means to them and sometimes even vomit out all their financial problems. (I feel sorry for gynecologists! 😉 )
In this case, she thought that all I do is manage “investments”, which is what she was referring too when she began to tell me about how she lost money. Managing assets is one tenth of what I actually do as a Certified Financial Planner® for my clients.
This is the reason I share this, because I KNOW that most Canadians think of Financial Planners as the people who manage their investments, and that is all. But there is WAY more to financial planning than investing.
(Side Note: I used to take these attacks on my profession personally, I TOTALLY don’t anymore! For any of my gorgeous babes that struggle with this in their business or profession, people will naturally project onto you what their thoughts are about what you do for a living – don’t take it personally! What they say about you has to do with their thinking and what is going on in their life. Usually, you strike a chord deep within when people have to blurt out things to you about what you do for a living – like the time someone told me they were a fitness & weight loss coach…..poor dear….clearly, that didn’t resonate with me AT ALL 😉 )
People have said some crazy stuff to me over the last 16 years when I introduce myself as a Financial Planner as my profession when asked, such as:
“My husband takes care of ALL OUR MONEY.”
“So, what’s the hottest stock tip of the day?”
“We already have a stock guy.”
“I only buy Real Estate.”
“I do all my own investing.”
“Oh, I got burned by a stock I held.”
“Where should I be putting my money?”
“I only buy GIC’s”
“I already have enough life insurance.”
“My employer/work manages all this stuff for me.” (wha?! Really… yikes!)
I could go on and on and…..
These comments crack me up INTERNALLY most of the time because I didn’t even ask them ANYTHING! I seem to bring out people’s MONEY BLOCKS and MONEY ISSUES just by stating what I do for a living. #truestory
I’m telling YOU this because I want CLARIFY the myth of what a FINANCIAL PLANNER actually does.
I think it’s so important you know this.
PROPER FINANCIAL ADVICE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL PAST, YOUR FINANCIAL MISTAKES, YOUR LACK OF PLANNING TO DATE.
PROPER FINANCIAL ADVICE DOES LOOK AT THE FINANCIAL FUTURE YOU WANT TO CREATE FOR YOURSELF, YOUR FINANCIAL RISKS AND FINANCIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR SPECIFIC SITUATION AND HELPS YOU PUT A PLAN IN PLACE.
REAL FINANCIAL PLANNERS who don’t just sell products but get paid for advice:
- don’t care if you manage your own stock portfolio
- don’t care if you only invest in real estate
- don’t care if you had a bad run in the stock market
- don’t care if you buy your insurance somewhere else
- don’t care if you want to save all your money in a GIC because you are risk adverse
- don’t care if you are self-employed and spend all your money on your business
- don’t care if you haven’t saved a cent and are still in debt and you are 59
Don’t you see?
A REAL FINANCIAL PLANNER (and yes, that means CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS® because we are held to that higher standard by this code of ethics thing) WANTS YOU TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS, HAVE A PLAN TO GET THERE, AND REDUCE RISK & TAXES WHILE MAXIMIZING OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU ALONG THE WAY.
This is what a FANTASTIC CFP® will do for you. They will make sure you look at all your options. They want you to be diversified. (That’s the first thing I preach, I would never tell anyone to have all their eggs in one basket!)
Oh, and you got burned from your last “stock/investment guy”, I’m going to give you some tough love right now.
You need to cut your losses and MOVE PAST this. Forgive and Forget. Don’t paint all “Financial Advisors” with a bad brush. That’s like saying….well… that’s like saying all shoes are bad or all chocolate is bad, which is clearly CRAY CRAY!
You still need:
- tax planning
- solid investment planning
- estate planning
- risk management
- insurance & benefits reviewed
- debt management tools
- and I could honestly go on forever about why you need to work with a FINANCIAL PLANNER
If you are serious about making sure your body is healthy you go to the gym and buy fruits and vegetables, don’t you?
If you are serious about your health you go to a doctor for regular check-ups, don’t you?
Same goes for your FINANCIAL HEALTH! You need to make time and space for MONEY TO FLOW in your life. You need to go for a financial check up! You need to do this if you want financial health!
But here’s the thing. It’s going to cost you. Yup, you heard me right. You need to invest financially in YOU! Quality advice doesn’t come free. It’s not expensive, but it will show you where your priorities are. Show me your expenses, and I will totally see what you value in your life.
PS. The government would be happy if you ignored your money and they collect more taxes… just sayin’ – no one has your back here except YOU! It’s no one’s job to care more about your money than you do.
So HERE’S the big idea today. Here’s my BOTTOM LINE:
Do you want to be financially healthy? Do you want financial peace-of-mind? Do you value being on solid financial footing? Do you value making sure you are paying the least amount of tax, making sure more money goes to your family than the government? Do you want to appreciate your ASSETS? Do you want to take your MONEY to the next level and leave all your past money sh*t behind you? Do you want money to flow and not be a block for you?
Then find yourself a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and INVEST IN YOU! I don’t care how much money you have, if you are serious about taking your financial health, you know deep down this is something you need to do. I know millionaires with financial messes, and I know people with very little money well on their way to total financial bliss.
Money doesn’t discriminate. It wants – It craves to be told where to go. Money wants a purpose and a plan.
So should you.
Because it’s time to create financial clarity and fund your dreams gorgeous!
xo
PS. If you want to work with me further, email me at lisa@ellementsgroup.com !
