Be Careful What You Wish For

Are you looking for a career in FINANCIAL PLANNING? Well, be careful what you wish for…

The problem is that FINANCIAL PLANNING is a label used by many different types of financial advice and planning firms, irrespective of the type of service that they actually provide.

It’s a bit like joining a band.

You’ve decided you’ll make a great singer and want to join a group.

But you wouldn’t just look for any band; you’d look for one that plays the music that suits your singing style.

Otherwise, when you drop the microphone on your gangsta rap at the choir recital, it’s going to be a little awkward.

In my head, I see the labels for the different services that make up FINANCIAL PLANNING as:

1. Lifestyle Financial Planning – Life Coaching to help a client visualise and articulate what the desired human outcome they desire is, which leads to
2. Financial Planning – Using cashflow modelling to build a financial plan which leads to
3. Financial Advice – Giving product-specific advice and arranging transactions

All are valuable, but they’re different services.

Now, if you’re already in the profession and have been around the block a few times, I could throw some names of financial firms at you and you’d be able to put the relevant service label on them.

But, if you’re new to the profession – it all just sounds the same…

Like some music does if you’re not into it.

And the problem is, if you only want to deliver great product advice and transactions, then a Lifestyle Financial Planning firm is probably not going to suit you.

Likewise, if you want to deliver great life coaching, you’re probably not going to enjoy being in a more transactional style financial advice organisation.

Either way, you’ll feel like Aled Jones warming up the audience at a Megadeth concert.

And I see this a lot from people entering the profession… Sometimes they’re so chuffed about getting into the FINANCIAL PLANNING band that they forget to ask what music they’ll be playing.

So what to do⁉️

Well, if you were thinking of joining a band, you’d go and see them first, wouldn’t you?

Check them out.

See if you like the music they play.

So, do the same with the financial planning firm you are thinking of joining.

Go along as a customer and listen to what their service is all about.

And if you come away buzzing and enthused as a customer, then it’s probably a good fit as an employee.

But if you feel like a goth at a Fleetwood Mac concert, then you’re probably in the wrong place.

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