Tag Archive for: Fee Only

The relationship between your financial health and physical health are interwoven and very similar.

With both, if you feel scarcity, the more time spent ruminating about it.  When your health fails, it can be all consuming.  Having trouble financially, the mental energy committed to it can be draining.

Choices you make today have a huge impact on your future self.  Did you push yourself physically to maintain a strong foundation? Did you save enough for your future self’s independence?

Chasing the fad of the day can spell disaster. Are you trying to get fit with a 2 week detox program only to find yourself right back where you left off? Are you seduced by the financial media into thinking there are shortcuts and can’t miss investments?

You may be able to splurge once in a while, but bad habits can be your downfall.

Life’s vices feel good in the moment but can be devastating for both your health and finances.  We usually know what we should do, but that doesn’t always make it so.  Of course we know a balanced diet and exercise with plenty of sleep is what we should do. Of course we know we should save for the future, insure against life’s perils, and take a long term view.

Working with a professional can greatly improve your long term results.  A trainer can keep you motivated, safe, and provide an expert plan to reach your goals.  A Financial Planner can keep you from making costly mistakes, provide discipline in trying times, and help you realize your dreams.

Many people can get by without either, but your chance and speed of success are usually much higher with than without. There is an expense to both, but both are investments in yourself.

As in financial and physical health, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Have you had your check up?

KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid), was the motto my high school basketball coach used to preach to us every practice.  Don’t try to force your passes; don’t do anything crazy when dribbling the ball; just stick to the basics and let the plays develop until you have the open shot.  Working at Lighthouse Financial Advisors and learning Robert’s views on the investment strategies for our clients, it is amazing to see a similar philosophy in place.  Our advisors do a great job of explaining to clients that it is not possible to “outsmart” the market.  Investors need to roll with the ups and downs, be patient and continue to keep their portfolios as diversified as possible.

The Investment Answer: Learn to Manage Your Money and protect Your Financial Future is a book I recently finished reading that does a phenomenal job of explaining how to simplify the investment decision for your clients in plain and simple English.  It is co-authored by Dan Goldie, an Investment Advisor who has been using Dimensional funds (also used by LFA) in his clients’ and Gordon Murray, who worked for Dimensional for many years himself.  They do a great job of cutting through all the financial mumbo-jumbo to explain the basics that we must know about investing in order to insure financial freedom.  If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please contact the LFA office.  We are confident that you will enjoy the book as well.

At Lighthouse Financial Advisors, Inc. we feel that this is directly in line with our values and business model. Each of these 7 items are always on our minds! Our continued growth due to client referrals is much appreciated and leads us to believe that we are doing a good job recognizing what YOU, our clients, really want. We encourage you to let us know how we are doing and if you have any suggestions on how we can improve!

It’s not just about your product or service. Customers want you to be the type of person they can trust to get the job done. What do your customers really want from you? No matter what your industry, your customers want more than just great products and workable solutions. What they really want to know is that you–personally–are the type of person whom they can trust to get the job done. Here are the seven things they want to see in you:

1. Independent Thinking

Customers want to know that you’ll represent their interests, even it’s not in your own financial interest–and particularly when the proverbial chips are down. (Of course, it’s your job to make certain that the chips stay up.)

2. Courage

Customers want to know that you can be trusted to do the right thing. They expect you to tell them if buying what you’re selling is a mistake, or not truly in their interests. That takes real guts.

3. Pride

The best customers don’t want you to truckle and beg. Because they’re trusting you to deliver, they want to work with proud, successful people who can handle even the most difficult tasks.

4. Creativity

Customers don’t have the time to sit and listen to cookie-cutter sales presentations. However, they always have time for somebody who can redefine problems and devise workable solutions.

5. Confidence

Customers are taking a risk when they buy from you. They both need and expect you to exude the kind of confidence that assures them you’ll do what it takes to make them happy.

6. Empathy

Customers want you to see the situation from their perspective. They want you to understand where they are, how their business works, and the challenges that they face–not just intellectually, but in your gut.

7. Honesty

Above all, customers want you to be honest with them. In fact, the previous six values are built upon a foundation of honesty. Without honesty, you have absolutely nothing to offer any customer.

 

7 Things Clients Are Looking For: Sales Source – Geoffrey James