Financial Planning

Apr 11, 2024

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To be indispensable, advisors must expand their estate planning playbook

In my 30-plus years of experience as an financial advisor, I’ve delivered impactful service not by simply focusing on maximizing investment performance, but by considering approaches that improve and protect the well-being of my clients and their families on a more human level.

 

My most important objectives as an advisor are ensuring that my clients sleep well at night, safe in the knowledge they are in good hands; helping them to meet their financial goals; and ensuring their experience is such that they can wholeheartedly say they are glad they met us.
Advisors who want to ensure that those fundamental needs are met must expand their focus to encompass much more than just the assets they directly manage. A recent report from Cerulli Associates concluded that demand for holistic advice will only increase, and that advisors must “consistently investigate the evolution of clients’ dreams, concerns, and fears.”

 

With those tenets at the core of my approach, I’ve come to focus on the power of estate planning as a tool to expand my service offering and forge stronger client relationships. One of the most natural ways for advisors to expand their role and provide total wealth advice is by having regular estate planning conversations with clients — regardless of an advisor’s depth of expertise in any given aspect of estate planning.

 

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[Steve Lockshin for Financial Planning]