Planning Through Collaboration

Delivering financial advice has changed drastically over the years. Looking back over the twenty years I've been in the profession, I witnessed it evolve from product sales (stockbrokers) to planning (the rise of the 100-page financial plan) to advice (subscription, fee-only, advice-only, etc). You can still find each of these depending on the type of firm you are looking at, with the older relationships declining at faster rates—and they'll all still be around in the future.

I think we're on the verge of the next transition, especially for firms like Santiago that are focusing on life planning.

The next phase of the evolution is collaboration.

It can be argued that in product sales, planning, and advice, the advisor is collaborating with the client, and I won't disagree. But, the collaboration I envision is a little different. Collaboration in older relationships was limited to the advisor receiving direction from the client to develop recommendations or justifications, in the case of advisors only held to suitability standards, and creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. The collaboration of the future is much deeper.

When it comes to the work I do at Santiago, the collaboration begins with the life plan.

The process of designing our clients' life plan goes way beyond the questionnaire of the past that focused on questions like, "When do you want to retire?", "How much money do you want in retirement?", "How much of college do you want to pay for?", and "How much money do you want to leave to your children when you die?" These are all essential questions, and a good financial advisor will dig a little deeper into the why behind the answers, but most will keep it pretty surface-level and dive into the financial planning software to create the "perfect" financial plan—"perfect" because it will look great on a spreadsheet and in charts, but it probably will not be the best plan for the life the client wants to live because our lives are not confined to spreadsheets.

It's not that I don't care about when you want to retire, what you envision for your children's college, or what goals you have for your legacy; I just know that most people have aspirations that exceed the traditional goals we've been taught to pursue. I also know that many people don't even know what they genuinely want or haven't allowed themselves to believe their vision is possible. I care more about these things, and I know we'll naturally talk about those traditional goals. So instead of asking you for arbitrary numbers that may or may not actually mean anything to your plan, I start with the Kinder Institute of Life Planning's EVOKE process—and after 2026, the process will also incorporate principles I learn from the Anya Institute of Human Revolution's Integrated Wealth Advisor program, which is the beginning of the collaborative process.

The EVOKE process consists of thought-provoking questions, space to consider your answers and process your emotions, exercises to spark ideas about what is possible for you, and the unique gifts and talents that I have been given, which allow me to be a guide, not the holder of the answers. I am merely a collaborator in the journey of discovering who your authentic Self is, what the authentic life you were meant to live looks like, and how to bring both to reality, which can only be achieved through collaboration because I don't and can't know the answers—only you do.

Once the life plan has been designed, the collaboration continues in the financial plan and ongoing advice—the best way to explain this is to share a real-life example of a current client:

Whenever I meet with this client, he always has a list of ten to twelve different things he is looking to accomplish, along with a few ideas of how he thinks he should attack these goals. We work ourselves down the list with me asking him, "What do you have in mind?", to learn more about how he thinks he should approach his goal. After listening, I share my initial reaction, the pros and cons that I see, and highlight anything he may not know that is relevant to his plan. Usually, I can think of a couple of alternate options as well, and I share those with him; if necessary, I will also take some time after our meeting to research other options that require some more time on my part. Once we have all of the options outlined, we'll review each, discuss the pros, cons, tradeoffs, and opportunity costs, and I'll share my recommendation for which option I think is best and why—this is my advice.

My final question to him is, "Which FEELS right to you?"

Putting the decision into his hands is an important aspect of our collaboration. I share my expertise, provide him multiple options that are aligned with his values, move him towards his goal, and allow him to make the choice that he feels is best for him and his family. Together we find the right options for his financial plan—it's not just me telling him what to do.

I love this approach to providing financial advice.

I still get to be creative with the strategy, crunch some numbers, help clients understand what they might not know, given that this work isn't their career, and empower them to make the "right" decision for their plan confidently.

This approach might not be for everyone.

I know many work with a financial advisor so they don't have to think about their finances; they want to be told what they should do, and they'll do it. There is nothing wrong with this approach, but it's not how I want to work with clients at Santiago.

Empowering clients to make decisions that feel right to them helps them take more ownership over their lives. Ultimately, the goal of life planning is to help people live the life they want to live, which includes making decisions they believe are best for themselves and their family.

Collaboration brings this empowerment.

For those who choose AlignedLife+, the collaboration continues with ongoing "coaching" calls. The purpose of the weekly calls is never predetermined and is determined on the day of the call by the client. These calls are designed to enable me to continue supporting clients as they evolve in their authentic lives, addressing a range of topics including finance, family, business, creative planning, spirituality, health, and whatever else is needed on any given day.

For those who choose AlignedLife, the collaboration continues in the regular review meetings as you steer the direction of your plan, and I provide the same guidance as I did during the EVOKE process at the beginning.

With the advancement of technology, specifically AI, the financial advisor role is going to move closer to a coach and will integrate far more than just finances. We advisors can lean on technology for most of the technical work, administrative duties, and some communication, so that we can focus on the more important conversations with our clients and collaborating with them to help them pursue the life they want to live.

If a collaborative relationship with a financial advisor aligns with the support you are looking for, I'd love to chat and see if Santiago and AlignedLife+ or AlignedLife are the right fit.

Keep pursuing,

Justin