Let’s Collaborate!

With regard to financial matters, most people do things in a vacuum. They talk to all the right people:

• Attorney
• Life Insurance agent
• Banker
• Investment Advisor
• Property and Casualty Agent

But each professional will answer questions and give advice based on their discipline which may differ from another professional’s answers and advice.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the individual professionals.

Sometimes sports teams acquire great players, but the players don’t work well together because they each see the game from their own perspective. The individual efforts are outstanding, but from the team perspective everything is disjointed and unproductive.

The same thing can happen with money management and financial planning, resulting in a kind of “financial overload” for the clients. This overload impacts and sometimes stalls the decision making process because clients don’t have a clear picture of which decisions should come first and how they all work together.

How do we combat this problem? The answer is simple. Bridge the gap between the various experts by working with a collaborative, multi-disciplinary group that involves accountants and attorneys as well as financial planners. Clients will get a better result and avoid the problems of overload, confusion and inactivity. In addition, this approach gives the client more confidence in the overall plan and the decisions they are making. Everyone sees things from their own perspective in life, but working with a team affords our clients a much wider range of experience, creating a broader perspective, and view of the situation.

The multi-disciplinary approach incorporates all aspects of the financial plan, helping our clients increase their awareness of what issues they may have, what problems they may encounter, and/or what steps they may want to consider for improving, correcting, and/or enhancing their financial picture.

Awareness is the key. Job number one is to assess the present financial situation with a client, and increase their awareness of their overall personal financial health. Viewing the financial plan from all perspectives gives a clear picture of where the client stands, what issues and challenges they face, and the best way to address those issues and challenges. If you feel your plan lacks coordination and integration and could benefit from this type of collaborative group planning, please call us for a no cost, no obligation initial consultation.