Refocus clients to big-grin goals

Meeting with clients right now might not be much fun.

Meeting with clients right now might not be much fun. Given the current mess on Wall Street, there’s plenty of pessimism to pass around. So let’s step away from typical investment strategies for a moment and talk about a way to shift your clients’ attention from thoughts of destitution to something less bleak, something uplifting, something, well, cheerful.

Permit me to tell you about the “big-grin goal.” Even before I start talking with clients about their investments, I ask: “What would really make you happy? What would give you lots of joy and put a huge smile on your face this year?”

That’s how I introduce the big-grin goal. I learned this technique from the Alliance of Cambridge Advisors Inc., an Highland, Mich., organization that trains fee-only advisers in holistic planning.

It is central to the life-centered approach I use in my financial planning practice. This goal is not simply a New Year’s resolution; most people break those. Rather, it’s a realistic goal — something that will make the client feel good.

As I explain to my clients, most goals involve money to some extent, but I point out that money is secondary to the goal itself. For example, one goal might be to facilitate a family reunion and, in doing so, pay for the children or grandchildren to attend. The family reunion is important.

Presuming that the goal is affordable, the adviser’s job is giving a green light to spend.

Maybe cash for the goal sits in their money market account. If so, proceed directly to Go. Otherwise, you can help determine the most tax-efficient source from which to draw money. For example, this year, clients in the 15% or lower marginal income tax bracket can sell appreciated stock and pay zero capital gains tax.

Another way to obtain funds is by reconfiguring cash flow. For example, maybe the restaurant bill can be pared back or a new-car purchase can wait a bit.

Some big-grin goals set by my clients have included:

• Traveling. Where do your clients want to go? How does a week in Italy sound? Clients can treat themselves to some great food, art and la dolce vita. Or ask them to name a place and dream a little bit as plans are made.

• Redoing the kitchen by brightening the color scheme, upgrading to granite countertops and so forth. Home Depot, anyone? Lowe’s?

• Celebrating a family event such as a special wedding anniversary — either their own or their parents’.

• Gaining better health through a gym membership or a personal fitness coach.

• Organizing clutter in the garage, create a home filing system or sort family photos.

When clients select this type of goal, they want to simplify their lives and make it easier for other family members when it comes time for estate settlement. As one client put it, “I don’t want my daughter to inherit my mess!” This last goal takes almost no money, just time.

Satisfaction comes at the next client meeting when progress toward the goal is a topic. Oftentimes, the big-grin goal is the very first item clients want to discuss, because they are fired up about achieving their goals. It’s not unusual for clients to contact me even before their next scheduled meeting to provide a progress report.

To make the goal more genuine, I share with clients my own goal for the year. For me, the goal is to take one long weekend away from home each month to visit friends or family, attend a professional event or just get away to someplace interesting.

Quarterly, the goal directs me to take a longer stretch, using several vacation days to range farther and wider in my travels.

A pleasant side effect to this goal, which I’ve set for myself, is when clients ask me where I’ve been and where I’m going. I get to tell them.

Working toward a big-grin goal can be its own gratification for your clients, and once the goal is realized, the sense of accomplishment can boost spirits enormously, because the clients made it happen. Yes, you guided them a little and laid out the financial wherewithal for achieving their goals, but they were the ones in control, and that is how they will perceive it.

Your clients will thank you for helping them achieve their goals, because you identified a short-term dream, you found a way to pay for it and you encouraged them to bring it home.

Kathleen M. Rehl, founder of Land O’Lakes, Fla.-based Rehl Financial Advisors, is a member of the Alliance of Cambridge Advisors Inc. in Highland, Mich.

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