Next Gen Mentoring Forum » Working with Women

Featuring Lead Advisor, Cristina Campbell, CFP®, MBA Financial Planning Experience at California Lutheran University

rnievesrios — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 13:36:37 +0000

Cristina Campbell, CFP®, is passionate about assisting her clients in reaching their financial goals by creating effective financial plans and investment strategies. She has over 13 years of experience in the financial services industry and specializes in retirement planning. While studying for her MBA in Financial Planning, Campbell had the opportunity to work at Empirical Wealth Management. Campbell has worked for several companies, including Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments. Her previous experience and the CLU program have prepared her to continue servicing her clients.

Her financial planning career journey began in the early stages because she loves numbers and working with people. However, she was unsure if her clients would take her seriously because her clients would be working with a young financial advisor. Furthermore, while studying for her undergraduate degree, she knew that she loved people, numbers, and establishing a relationship with clients. She chose the MBA Financial Planning Program at California Lutheran University because the program will advance her knowledge. Also, “during my undergraduate, I did not have real-world experience. With the advancement of technology and the rise of fintech companies, I wanted to stay ahead of the curve. I love education and learning too because we never stop learning.” Several reasons to attend CLU are “the flexibility the program offers, the advancement of the courses, and the price of the program.” The most impactful course for her was the small business planning course because it was a learning experience, and the course was eye-opening when working with small businesses clients. Also, the applied research in financial planning because the course is eye-opening. She is writing a research paper on financial literacy in children and the available tools for children to learn financial topics. Finally, she advises students to “be ready to roll up their sleeves and do not think about it too much. Taking one course at a time allowed me to focus on that particular topic.”

To prepare for the CFP®, she mentions that she completed her course work at UC Berkeley and purchased a “robust crash course from Kaplan.” After studying through the course, she felt more prepared to take the six-hour exam. Also, she advises that “you do not need to learn everything in the tax code; only the conceptual basis will be enough to help you answer the questions in the exam.”

Cristina Campbell, CFP®, is a Lead Advisor at Empirical Wealth Management. A typical week at Empirical Wealth Management begins with scheduling quarterly client meetings and client reviews to meet with clients to stay up to date with their current situations. If some of her clients went through life-changing events, she would map out how it would change their overall financial situation. Also, she spends a third of her time prospecting for new clients, and some of her clients are referred directly from Charles Schwab.

In the next 5 to 10 years, she wants to continue working at her firm and someday become a partner. The final pieces of advice that Campbell offers to students are, “It does not happen overnight; incremental changes make a huge impact over the course of your lifetime. What I learned is that adding small amounts over time adds value.” Also, “it is important not to get stressed out about the little things. Focus on the big picture, work hard, and be kind to people.”

About Cristina Campbell, CFP®:

Cristina Campbell, CFP®, is a student at California Lutheran University studying for her MBA in Financial Planning. She is a Lead Advisor at Empirical Wealth Management, who assists clients reach their financial goals, creating and implementing their financial plans, and developing effective investment strategies. With over 13 years of experience, she specializes in retirement planning and strategies.

About the Author:

Rafael Nieves Rios is a graduate student at California Lutheran University, graduating in 2024. He is studying for an MBA in Financial Planning. In February 2020, he created a personal finance blog called Financial Crumbs.

About Cristina Campbell, CFP®:

About the Author:

Rafael Nieves Rios is a graduate student at California Lutheran University, graduating in 2024. He is studying for an MBA in Financial Planning.

What Matters the Most? with Kathleen M. Rehl, Ph.D., CFP®, CeFT® (11/09/2021)

Chia-Li Chien — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 19:22:48 +0000

Dr. Chien interviewed Kathleen M. Rehl, Ph.D., CFP®, CeFT®, on “What Matters the Most? Help Your Clients Write Legacy Letters for Family and Friends” on Nov. 09, 2021, at 02:00 PM PDT.

In the Estate Planning Section from the comprehensive financial planning, we often recommend clients to write a “final letter of last instruction.” A final letter of last instruction details the client’s wishes regarding the disposition of specific tangible property, as well as funeral and burial wishes. But, this letter is a communication tool between the client and his or her estate’s executor, in the event of your death. Will that be enough to help your clients go through the three stages of Widowhood? We are so glad to have Dr. Rehl return to continue the discussion of what matters the most?

Resources of the legacy letter.

Guest:

Kathleen M. Rehl, Ph.D., CFP®, CeFT® wrote the award-winning book, Moving Forward on Your O wn: A Financial Guidebook for Widows after the death of her late husband. More than 75,000 copies of this book are in circulation. She owned Dr. Rehl Financial Advisors for almost 18 years before retiring to a six-year encore career empowering widows and their advisors through her speaking, writing, and doing research about widows. Her work has been featured in articles published by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s, CNBC, USA Today, and many others. She happily “reFired” on her 73rd birthday in 2020. Kathleen and her new husband, Charlie, concentrate on family, fun, focused-purpose, friends, and fitness. She enjoys writing legacy poetry and stories plus assisting nonprofits. Her website is at https://kathleenDr. Rehl.com.

Host:

Chia-Li Chien, Ph.D., CFP®, PMP®, CPBC, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Financial Planning Program of California Lutheran University. Before her academic role, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies, including Diageo, ABB, CIGNA, and RSA Insurance Group. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession planning at national conferences and has published three books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” She publishes research on succession topics in a variety of academic and practitioner research journals. Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®). Chia-Li Chien is pronounced Jolly Jan.

Sell with Emotion Through Social Media with Sarah E. Williams (09/07/2021)

Chia-Li Chien — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 22:30:13 +0000

Dr. Chia-Li Chien, CFP, PMP, interviewed Sarah E. Williams, on “Sell with Emotion Through Social Media” on Sept 07, 2021, at 2:00 PM PDT.

Peer-influencing has dominated how consumers seek advice. Many financial planning practitioners navigate popular social media platforms with compliance guards. Ms. Williams will share with us how to best leverage social media platforms with leads in emotional triggers.

The best social media platform for financial planning practitioners
What are the do’s and don’ts in social media to be evergreen compliance?
What are the emotional triggers that could generate leads?
What are the best practices for marketing in social media?

Register now, and you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. This is a webinar you won’t want to miss!!

Guest:

Sarah E. Williams, VP, Marketing Communications at CreativeOne. With almost 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, advertising, and public relations, Sarah leads the company’s outreach efforts, showing financial advisors and independent insurance agents exactly what they can accomplish through branding, lead generation, and social media. She has helped hundreds of producers expand their businesses, showing them how to grow revenue while positioning them as an industry of thought leaders since joining CreativeOne in 2011.

As CreativeOne’s chief ambassador, Sarah communicates how marketing and practice management can help agents and advisors expand their practices. She leads the education channel, recruiting prospective agents and advisors who want to join CreativeOne. Her knowledge of marketing, combined with her embodiment of CreativeOne’s philosophy, makes her a formidable leader in this ever-changing industry.

Host:

How to Attract Women Clients?

Chia-Li Chien — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 16:00:35 +0000

May 18, 2021

How to Attract Women Clients?

Dr. Shine Lei is one of few individuals to have a CFP ® certification in both the U.S. and China. In the webinar, “How to Attract Women Clients?” Dr. Lei shares her research and insight on working with women clients.

Her career began as a trained typical corporate finance professional during the financial crisis of 2008. After the crisis, she reconsidered her career path to be a financial planner. In China, the CFP ® Board was recruiting financial planners, interested in the idea, Dr. Lei joined them and had her eyes opened to a different world. “It’s part of the finance world, but from a different angle. It’s working with the individual investors directly rather than the corporates,” she said when reflecting on her time working on the board. She said she worked with many professionals on the board and wanted to know if financial planners can add value to the client’s investor performance. To find her answer, Dr. Lei moved to join the University of Missouri in the U.S.

Why Are Women Important in Financial Planning?

Based on her research, the increasing wealth of women are making the role of women in financial planning more important and relevant every day. “Women are more and more independent in their investment decision-making, which means they are not relying on their own judgment but also become the dominant role in household financial decisions,” Dr. Lei said.

What Are Some of the Characteristics of Women Clients?

Her co-authored research found that women more likely to use financial planning services are more likely to share these characteristics: wealthy, well-educated, and financially literate. As progressive society sees more women earning careers, they are also becoming more financially literate.

Interestingly, Dr. Lei said she didn’t find women have a gender preference with their planners. However, she noted, women planners remain to be underrepresented as they only represent a small fraction of financial planners within the industry and are paid less.

The host, Dr. Chia-Li Chien noted the majority of her clients are women or the women are the dominant partner in the relationship. She also noticed the general characteristics of a woman being nurturing, sensitive, and detail-orientated are great characteristics to have as a financial planner when working with clients as it is a sensitive topic.

“Women clients are more likely to go to women planners especially for divorce planning,” said Dr. Lei. “I think it is because women planners can relate more to the clients because of their natural features. I think they are more likely to attract women clients and be successful in the financial planning industry,” she said.

How Can Financial Planners Market to Women Clients?

Dr. Lei said the following tips are important for marketing for both female and male clients as financial planning professionals.

“It’s a cliche but it’s also important to know your clients,” Dr. Lei said. Firstly, profile the women who are more likely to use the services i.e. wealthy, well-educated, and financially literate. “It’s helpful to target the right group of people to help you grow your business,” she said.

Secondly, use the right method to communicate with the women. “It’s critical to know how to speak to the audience using the right language and words. The goal is to ensure the message correlates with them but being relevant with respect to their values and beliefs,” Dr. Lei explained.

Lastly, test and learn the techniques of communication. Why are your clients taking action and meeting you? Was it a discount? Recommendation? Likewise, why are your clients not taking action? It’s important to take note of the techniques that work effectively and those that don’t.

How to Work with Women Clients Efficiently?

Dr. Lei suggested having a better understanding of relevant emotional behavioral factors. “What emotions and social influences do you notice between the clients and the planners? Notice if you can share with clients your understanding and help them back to the correct financial planning path,” she said. By carefully understanding and placing detail, the client’s journey and the client’s experience of the journey can have adjustments made to improve the experience.

Profile + Behaviour = Tailoring Business Model

Placing the client profile with learned behaviors through conversation with them can identify the factors that are dominant and their buyers. E.g. Are they detail-orientated? Or do they prefer not seeing all the details and rather see the bigger picture?

Advice to Future Planners About Working With Women Clients?

To close the webinar, Dr. Lei’s parting advice to others wanting to work with women clients is to “know your clients and practice your soft skills.”

About Shine Lei:

Shan (Shine) Lei, Ph.D., CFA, CFP® is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Perdue School of Business, Salisbury University, and a member of the University System of Maryland. Before that, Shine worked as an Assistant Professor of Finance and Financial Economics at the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, and West Texas A&M University under the Texas A&M University System. She served as the Director of International Relations at Financial Planning Standards Board China and had been an adviser at PwC before joining academia.

Whilst at academic institutions, Shine held the responsibility to teach undergraduate and graduate finance and financial planning courses both online and on campus. This instructional responsibility involved designing and developing course content and assessment tasks for students with various academic and work experience backgrounds.

Shine has been an active scholar in conducting research regarding investment decision-making, portfolio allocation, and retirement preparation. She has been published by the International Journal of Bank Marketing, Journal of Women & Aging, Journal of Personal Finance, Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Financial Planning and Counseling, and Applied Economics Letters. She has presented her research at several national conferences. She is also a peer reviewer for several academic journals. Shine is a member of the CFP Board, CFA Institute, American Council on Consumers Interests, and Financial Planning Standards Board China. Shine holds Charted Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner (both in the U.S. and China) qualifications. She holds a Ph.D. in Personal Finance from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a master’s degree in International Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

About the Host:

Dr. Chia-Li Chien is a succession program director at Value Growth Institute, a succession consulting practice dedicated to helping business owners increase their firms’ equity value. Before her private consulting practice, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Chien is a director of the financial planning program at the School of Management at California Lutheran University. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession and retirement planning at national conferences and has published three award-winning books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®).

About the Author:

Rosie Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude from California Lutheran University in May 2021 with honors and departmental distinction. Her bachelor’s degree is in Communication emphasizing PR and Advertising, minoring in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

Dr. Chien interviewed Dr. Shine Lei, CFA, CFP®, on “How to Attract Women Clients?” on May 18, 2021, at 1:00 pm PST.

Many financial planning practitioners like to work with women clients. As matter of fact, many planning firms are created by women and service only women. Women clients might be your target market. You might service and plan for women. In this session, we will discuss the following questions:

Why are women important in financial planning?
What are some characteristics of women as clients?
What are some characteristics of women as planners?
How do we market to women clients?
How to work with women clients efficiently?

Reference:

Lei, S., & Kordes, M. H. (2020). Women, wealth, and demand for financial planning services. Journal of Financial Planning, 33(8), 48–55.

Why Post-Widowhood Marriage Exposes Those to Future Risk?

Chia-Li Chien — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 16:03:21 +0000

March 16, 2021

Why Post-Widowhood Marriage Exposes Those to Future Risk?

When Dr. Kathleen Rehl’s husband died in 2007 she experienced widowhood for the first time. According to Dr. Rehl’s research, 70% of women will experience widowhood in their lifetime compared to 80% of men who die while married. What’s more, women living in poverty are four to five times more likely to be widowed and live up to another 15 years on their own.

Dr. Rehl first opened a financial planning business with an emphasis on philanthropy working with charitable gifts and clergy. After her husband’s death, she stepped back from the practice and decided to only accept clients who were widows or soon-to-be. In 2010, she wrote Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guide for Widows and started doing speaking events for other widows. “I decided to go down the path of helping widows, I knew I could impact more widow lives than the 70 individual clients that I had at my firm,” she said. Dr. Rehl did that for six years before rotating to another career in retirement. She now works with nonprofits and sometimes does individual workshops for widows.

Why is the Death of One Spouse Economically Devastating for Another?

As couples get older, it is common to find one spouse, typically the woman, handling the finances of the household such as the budget. Dr. Rehl explained that there is an importance of having money conversations between couples and developing a level of understanding for when someone passes on. When it is typically one spouse that handles the finances, it leaves the other completely in the dark if something happened to their spouse. It is as simple as not knowing the passwords to the bank accounts or where to find important documentation.

“Being in pain from the grief and not understanding the money and all the issues are difficult. It can be really problematic if they’re [the couples] not having money conversations and one spouse doesn’t know,” Dr. Rehl said. She also noted that older widows who remarry build a great self-confidence about their husbands managing the finances, once again leaving them in the dark about their finances.

The Three Stages of Widowhood:

Number 1: Taking Care of Me

This is the financial triage stage, explained Dr. Rehl. The widow is experiencing intense grief and is particularly vulnerable. Many also refer to this stage as the jello phase due to the state of their thinking and processing during this time. The financial triage stage is where no big decisions are made, instead, there is a focus on the general finances that HAVE to be taken care of. Not all widows progress from this stage into stage two or even three. Usually, those that don’t progress from this stage are the senior widows. As a financial advisor, it is important to use the right language to communicate when with clients, Dr. Rehl said. This is a balance of being empathetic and gently helping them to try to move to the stage at their own pace.

Number 2: Taking Care of Business

The second stage is general planning, explained Dr. Rehl. This is the stage of growth after the initial grief has been passed. More general planning can be completed with the widow such as investments and estate planning. There is no “correct” timeline as to when the client will move into stage two, Dr. Rehl said, sometimes it can be a few months or it can take years. In this stage, it is also important for the client to reach out and seek help. It is also good to encourage the children to come into the office to also speak with the advisor so they can be involved and understand what is happening.

Dr. Rehl explained that this stage is a good lesson for couples to learn before one passes. She suggests having “Money Dates” with your other half regularly to share little financial details. Start with an easy topic such as passwords and pins, then the following weekend look at budgets, she suggested. Take it “one little piece at a time to share information with one another,” she said.

Number 3: Taking Care of More

This is the final stage of widowhood, where advanced planning can take place. The widow has developed a new perspective and is ready to redesign her life. This could be starting a new hobby or even start dating again. She is “blossoming into new beginnings,” Dr. Rehl said. Although this new stage rings promise and hope, there is still grieving, she explained. Dr. Rehl herself remarried many years after the death of her husband, but she said the grieving never really stops nor the memory of the spouse, yet this stage is a time of fulfillment.

Being Financially Secure

“No matter what stage a widow is at, spoken or not, there is a common thread of wanting to be financially secure,” Dr. Rehl said. Widows want financial literacy, knowledge, an understanding of their money story, and the ability to do basic budgeting/ savings. However, this can’t happen until the client feels comfortable even talk about money. Getting to this place of comfort is essential if the client wants to start making financial decisions. Therefore, it is important to build trust and develop a relationship with them as the financial advisor.

“The meetings you have, especially with a new widow, will not be one of the marathon meetings that go on forever and forever, they’re going to be shorter with more of them. With a widow you’re going to slow things way down,” she said. The advisor can help address their emotions and be a support system for them. If you aren’t naturally an empath or struggle to be this figure, Dr. Rehl suggests seeking out someone who is professionally trained to help widowed clients or to get them in touch with someone who specializes and understands. Alternatively, Dr. Rehl believes it is important for advisors to have some sort of understanding by at least researching widowhood a little.

Legacy Letter

A legacy letter is a letter you can leave behind to anyone you desire to have. It is the opportunity to write about yourselves and create a life-print of detailed information to leave behind. Dr. Rehl explained that individual letters can be written or general ones to family and friends. “How many times do you think I read my mother’s will? Very rarely. I read her legacy letter often even though she passed 14 years ago” she said. If writing a letter isn’t your style, you could also record a video or get creative in another style.

One Piece of Advice

Dr. Rehl’s final thoughts to the interview were a piece of advice. She said that everyone should consider working with widows as she believes they are the best group to work with. “Once they trust you and you’ve got their back as a thinking partner, empowering them, they will be with you forever and tell their widow girlfriends about you,” she said.

About Dr. Kathleen M. Rehl:

Kathleen M. Rehl, Ph.D., CFP®, CeFT® wrote the award-winning book, Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows after the death of her late husband. More than 75,000 copies of this book are in circulation. She owned Dr. Rehl Financial Advisors for almost 18 years before retiring to a six-year encore career empowering widows and their advisors through her speaking, writing, and doing research about widows. Her work has been featured in articles published by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s, CNBC, USA Today, and many others. She happily “reFired” on her 73rd birthday in 2020. Kathleen and her new husband, Charlie, concentrate on family, fun, focused-purpose, friends, and fitness. She enjoys writing legacy poetry and stories plus assisting nonprofits. Her website is at https://kathleenDr. Rehl.com.

About the Host:

About the Author:

Rosie Baker is an undergraduate student at California Lutheran University, graduating in May 2021. She is studying Communication with an emphasis in PR and Advertising and has a minor in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

Dr. Chien interviewed Kathleen M. Rehl, Ph.D., CFP®, CeFT®, on “Why Post-Widowhood Marriage Exposes Those to Future Risk?” on March 16, 2021, at 1:00 pm PST.

One person of a married couple will pass first. For some, their long companionship may cause emotional hardship for surviving spouses. For others, the hardship may impact the surviving spouse’s financial stability. In this session, we will discuss the following questions:

Why is the death of a spouse economically devastating for the survivor?
What are the stages of widowhood?
What is financial empowerment for the non-financial dominating spouse?
What are some steps to increase financial empowerment before the loss of a spouse?

Reference:

Mattia, Laura, Eun Jin Kwak, John E. Grable, Carrie L. West, Linda Y. Leitz, and Kathleen M. Rehl. 2020. “Self-Empowerment Among Widows: A Financial Planning Perspective.” Journal of Financial Planning 33 (10): 52–60.

How Can Interpersonal Neurobiology Be Integrated Into Financial Planning?

Chia-Li Chien — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 16:08:34 +0000

March 11, 2021

How Can Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) Be Integrated Into Financial Planning?

Finances are an essential part of anyone’s life. For Julie Fortin, she fell in love with intimately working with others to help them make decisions about their finances. After earning her master’s degree and working in the institutional side of financial planning as a CFP® she searched for local firms that advise via a fee. From there she shifted to a firm with advisors that were mostly women. “When I was studying for the CFP® exam I had a young child at home and was a little isolated professionally,” she said. Fortin has found much empowerment and pride in working at a women’s firm that mostly helps other women.

What is Interpersonal Neurobiology?

Fortin explained that interpersonal neurobiology has been evolving research since the 1990s. It is an interdisciplinary framework that includes research from over a dozen different and unrelated scientific disciplines. These patterns of unrelated scientific disciplines are studied. The neuroscience aspect looks at the way the brain changes and how it is influenced by different relationships. The clinically-based evidence looks at the way the brain grows and it is focused on well-being relevant to industries with relationships, well-being, and leadership/coaching explained Fortin. “It really does a great job of translating neuroscience into approaches and a framework that we can use with clients in financial planning,” she said.

A Shift In Work

There are four main concepts of Interpersonal Neurobiology; Integration, Neuroplasticity, Attunement, and Micro Awareness. In recent years, Fortin has observed a shift from financial products and sales into the realm of quality of life. A shift I think a lot of industries are currently experiencing due to the pandemic and many working from home. Fortin described the shift as the technicality and the quality of life merging together.

To develop a greater quality of life Fortin suggests developing deeper client relationships and connections. This is beneficial for the client as they will have someone they trust in the condition of an uncertain change. “At the end of the day it’s really not about the client having more assets in their account or on paper, it’s about what they feel those assets are going to be able to provide for them or allow them to do,” she said.

The Importance of Clients Being Financially Integrated

Fortin describes integration as the fundamental process of well-being. In order to achieve a sense of well-being, Fortin said it must be first recognized where clients are not integrated with their financial lives. Having this unique ability and relationship with clients will help them move towards a financially integrated space. Therefore giving the clients the opportunity to think about the future and have those conversations that they might not be having. An important and beneficial part of financial planning is being able to reflect on current practices and have the opportunity to think and discuss them out loud.

“Without knowing what somebody wants and what their values and goals are the plan can’t be built. If someone is coming into the office and you’re not going deeper on about what they desire they will probably say what they’ve heard about, like retirement,” Fortin said. Therefore it is important to develop a relationship with one another and build trust to then put numbers to paper.

What is Attunement?

Attunement is the ability of the brain to rewire itself in response to interpersonal and intrapersonal, said Fortin. Therefore it is being able to understand deeply when in a moment to know how we are feeling while being present with another person.

Interpersonal is the client and yourself. It is hard to detect another’s emotions that aren’t your own. Intrapersonal is about yourself. It is important to reset your frame of mind before meeting a client. Having a clear mind and being centered helps to talk to the client. Like most things, you must be present and use emotional intelligence to detect and understand what is happening in front of you.

Being Stressed is Unavoidable

Stress is going to be present in a lot of meetings, every day. By staying attuned to the client’s emotions you can acknowledge if something has shifted or what the client may be feeling. When with a client Fortin believes is 75% listening and 25% talking. “Financial planners train to give advice and answers. Sometimes it takes a lot of self-control to not say something when you want to, it’s part of the practice,” she said.

Her advice is to get comfortable with silence. Pause and wait in case the client wants to say something, ‘The whole point of the process is to get the client clarity for themselves. It will give them calm and control again,” she said. When this happens Fortin suggests reflecting back to them when they talk. She encourages planners and advisors to use open-ended questions using how and what, as well as encouraging the client to self-understand. “I don’t think there’s going to be one size fits all like many things. I think the integration into financial planning will look different depending on the type of firm,” she said.

Parting Advice to Younger Planners

Fortin’s parting advice was focused on younger planners, “I think it’s such an exciting time in our industry. I’m excited for younger planners that are just coming into the industry. I can’t imagine a better time as there are so many options now,” she said. She further spoke about growth in the presence of women in the industry with new young, female professionals. On the whole, Fortin believes that many women innately have the skills that are required for a non-technical job of being a financial advisor. Lastly, her advice guided towards anyone said, “Focus on what aspects of financial planning really excite you and explore that more.”

About Julie Fortin:

Julie Fortin, CFP®, FBS®, CeFT®, is a Partner and Wealth Manager at Northstar Financial Planning, a women-owned, holistic, financial planning firm dedicated to enriching the lives of women and couples by helping them use their money to achieve their life, family, and legacy goals. Julie holds an MS in Finance degree from Suffolk University and a graduate certificate in Financial Psychology and Behavioral Finance from Creighton University. She is a Certified Financial Planner professional®, a Certified Financial Behavior Specialist®, and a Certified Financial Transitionist®. She has been quoted in publications including the New York Times and Nerdwallet and published in the Journal of Financial Planning. Julie volunteers with the programs Junior Achievement and Invest in Girls. She serves on the board of the Financial Therapy Association.

About the Host:

About the Author:

Dr. Chien interviewed Julie Fortin, CFP®, FBS®, CeFT®, on “How Can Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) Be Integrated Into Financial Planning?” on March 11, 2021, at 11 am PST

Financial planning is not just about increasing and safeguarding the client’s wealth but also their overall well-being. In this session, we will discuss the following questions:

What is Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB)?
Why can integrating Interpersonal Neurobiology into the financial planning approach improve the client’s overall net worth and quality of life?
How to integrate IPNB techniques into the financial planning process?
When planners sense the client’s stress, what are the steps the planner can follow to change the narrative?
What is attunement: knowing oneself and others?
How to integrate IPNB into the financial planning business model?

Register now, and you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. This is a webinar you won’t want to miss!

Reference:

Fortin, J., Jansen, M., & Klontz, B. T. (2020). Integrating interpersonal neurobiology into financial planning: practical applications to facilitate well-being. Journal of Financial Planning, 33(5), 46–47. https://callutheran.on.worldcat.org/oclc/8596609674

Student Resources:

https://www.kitces.com/
https://www.letsmakeaplan.org/
https://mindgains.org/
https://www.mindsightinstitute.com/team/
https://drdansiegel.com/

How to Counsel Clients Without Shaming Them?

Josiah Gonzales — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 21:30:47 +0000

How to Counsel Clients Without Shaming Them?

Dr. Ekta Kumar opened up the webinar by explaining the difference between the interchangeable words; shaming and guilt. Shaming she said is having a judgment on an individual. It can then be hard to make change happen when feeling overwhelmed with this emotion. For example, “I’m terrible at finances,” is a client shaming themselves. Guilt is behavioral and it can be obstructive. An example of this would be saying to a client, “Stop spending so much on shopping.”

When a client feels shameful, an advisor should respond with empathy, explained Kumar. Discussing money is something many Americans have been taught not to talk about with others, therefore it is often difficult to talk about with someone you do not know well. The advisor wants to emphasize and encourage a bond that together they can work on a financial plan. The thoughts about financial decisions they feel shameful about must be reminded are a skill and not a character flaw, Dr. Kumar said.

Managing Non-Verbals

Before COVID-19, meetings with clients mostly took place in-person therefore meaning body language was very easily accessible to see. Now, the majority of meetings are virtual and I think they will be for the foreseeable future meaning different non-verbal actions are needed when in a meeting. Dr. Kumar said advisors need to think about other aspects compared to the previous in-person format when in a meeting with a client. What are your distractions while talking? What is your body language depicting to the receiver through the camera? Are you using eye-contact and visual cues such as nodding? It is important to exaggerate these in a virtual environment so they can be seen through the screen, Dr. Kumar said.

In relation to the topic of judgment the host, Dr. Chia-Li Chien, asked what can advisors do to avoid and manage their nonverbals? Dr. Kumar responded by saying advisors need to be aware of what their biases are towards certain behaviors or individuals. “As humans every single one of us has biases and when we try to ignore any that exist, we can’t do anything about them,” she said. Many of us refuse to acknowledge we have biases towards certain identities or characteristics, however, we all have them. Until they are recognized and understood we are oblivious to fixing them. To help understand, Dr. Kumar suggested reflecting on the situation that was tough for you. Are you aware of any biases being present? How are you going to actively work on those biases? The discussion of understanding Dr. Kumar is talking about is so important to understand no matter what industry you are working in. Especially as our world is becoming more global working with cultures literally from all over the world.

When it comes to being an advisor there are two strong biases at play, the rules of thumbs such as social security claiming age, and cultural biases such as paying for children’s college. “Each individual has different familiar values, different cultural values that drive their decision making, different obligations to their church or their temple, but also mental health as well. Sometimes different mental health diagnoses have different spending habits,” Dr. Kumar said.

The Best Way to Work with Biases

There are biases for all types of identity. In Financial Planning it is important to ask questions and understand what is important for the individual you are working with. What are the individual’s values? When they respond, good listening should be practiced to fully grasp what they are saying. Responses should be sensitive and their values should be honored. The best outcome is to meet their financial goals while honoring their values.

The best way to work around biases is to understand where it came from and how your point of view is different from the clients. Acknowledging their position is a good place to open up a conversation on ways to meet their financial goals. The best way to achieve this is to ask additional questions to find a middle ground of compromise.

How to Avoid Unintentionally Shaming Clients?

A question that may come across an advisor’s mind is how do you know when a client has been unintentionally shamed? There are a few potential indicators Kumar explained. Maybe your client stops attending sessions, seems checked out or you are hitting a dead end. “You’re talking about money all day but most people never talk about money. Remember those pieces,” Dr. Kumar said. Also pay attention to what your phrases are and how you feel at the end of different sessions.

Does Being Vulnerable Help to Understand Clients?

Advisors are human too. They understand the challenges and difficulties that the client may be facing in making decisions. By recognizing that different things can be difficult it shows the client that the advisors understand emotional turmoil. By sharing experience it sheds some light on the fact they aren’t the only ones to be struggling with a certain topic or decision.

How to Get Clients to Talk Without Shaming Them Into Talking?

The key to getting clients to talk without shaming them into doing so is to be empathic and sensitive to their perspective. Ask questions and brainstorm with them while maintaining a neutral tone, Dr. Kumar said. You also want to monitor your facial expressions while activating listening and engaging she explained.

Phrasing Questions

The way questions are asked and phrased will change the type of response that is received Kumar explained. “Why don’t you stop getting your nails done every week?” versus “You nails look really great, is it something you do to take care of yourself?… What about if you got them done every week and a half?” Although these two questions are looking for the same answer, they will receive two very different responses from the client. By demonstrating support and recognition of why the client is getting their nails done it opens the conversation to negotiate a middle ground, explained Dr. Kumar. “There are so many layers of identity there is room for judgment,” Dr. Kumar said.

Discussing Savings

Some people find it easier to talk about spending rather than saving. So, how do you engage a client to talk about saving? You want to first learn about the clients value of saving, Kumar said. Ask the client, “How important are savings to you?” This is a neutral way to have the conversation rather than pushing the concept of savings onto the client.

Ease the Situation Into Helping the Clients Do the Right Thing

By acknowledging and giving feedback of the norms it can help ease the situation of helping the client do the right thing. You want to have awareness of potential different situations that can be around savings that you may not know about e.g. fears of banks or previous divorce, Dr. Kumar said. “To speed up the discovery, create a good environment to help the client feel comfortable to share information,” suggested Dr. Kumar in her last thought of the webinar. If they still don’t share information, it may be they just don’t want to share it.

If you would like to learn more about careers in Financial Planning, reach out to the Financial Planning program here at California Lutheran University.

About Ekta Kumar:

Dr. Ekta Kumar is a licensed Clinical Psychologist who received her master’s degree and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) from the University of Indianapolis. At the University of Indianapolis, Dr. Kumar was a diverse fellow and served on the Diversity Advisory Board for the School of Psychological Sciences. Dr. Kumar has developed workshops and continuing education programs related to diversity, trauma, clinical practice for students, staff, faculty, and clinicians in Indiana and California. Recently, Dr. Kumar was the Director for Community Counseling Services at CLU and is now the Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives for the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Southern California. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and provides college students at USC with therapy services. In her private practice, she specializes in working with LGBTQIA+ individuals and POC. Dr. Kumar has a variety of training and experience providing therapy, outreach/prevention programming, and facilitation of difficult dialogue related to trauma and diversity. Finally, Dr. Kumar has presented at various national conferences and is published in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development.

About the Host:

About the Author:

Dr. Chien interviewed Dr. Ekta Kumar on “How to Counsel Clients Without Shaming Them?” on November 3, 2020, at 3:00 pm PST.

Many of us were taught not to talk about money when growing up. But, the more we make, the more we need to seek help in accumulating wealth. So we can achieve financial independence in life. In this session, we will discuss the following questions:

What is shaming?
How do we know we are unintentionally shaming our clients?
How do we encourage clients to talk but not shame them when providing financial planning or counseling?
What could financial planning professionals do to avoid shaming their clients?

How to Use Effective Communication to Lead Clients?

Josiah Gonzales — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 20:42:32 +0000

How to Use Financial Counseling and Coaching Skills to Help Your Clients?

Failure scares many of us, if not all of us in some way. Whether it is something big like not achieving our dream job or something small like undercooking a chocolate birthday cake. Carrie Beckstrom, an expert in communicating and the CEO of Power Speaking. Inc discusses how to reframe failure, vital communication soft skills everyone should practice, and how to analyze an audience plus many other topics in her interview with Dr. Chia-Li Chien.

Beckstrom recommends these three ways to reframe failure:

Focus on your strengths and be clear on what they are.
Step outside of your comfort zone as the most rewarding things in your life come from doing just this.
Practice, Train, and Research communication techniques, but most importantly commit to them.

The first minute to two minutes is the most vital when you want to make an impression. If you start weak, it is hard to recover, Beckstrom explained. “If you do nothing else, make sure you have your opening down pat, whether it’s an interview you’re preparing for, a difficult discussion, a pitch to a client, or a presentation. You need to rehearse that opening,” she said.

The Importance of Communication Skills

Having good communication and other behavioral skills are the new power skills said, Beckstrom. “The number one skill that recruiters, CEOs, and employers are seeking from graduates are referred to as either power or social capital skills,” she said. These skills refer to writing and verbal communication, working with others, and the ability to influence others. Now more than ever there is an emphasis on the importance of having these skills as companies are now global organizations. What’s more, having these skills lead to building strong relationships.

How to Overcome Excuses

We are all guilty of having excuses for ourselves, whether it is putting off doing a task or having a reason to not step outside of our comfort zones. Ask yourself, Beckstrom said, “How are your excuses and self-imposing limitations serving you?”

How do the choices are you choosing benefit you? Do you want to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone and reap the rewards from being uncomfortable for a period of time? You can only grow and get these rewards when you take the courage to step outside of your comfort zone she explained. “It doesn’t matter what level you are at, there is always an opportunity for improvement,” she said. Whether you are at entry-level or the CEO, learning, and growing will never cease.

What Makes an Effective Communicator

If you want to be an effective communicator, you want to show others that you are not perfect. What makes us all human is having weaknesses. “Converting confidence, capabilities, aspirations and to be willing to show vulnerability and weakness that humanizes you and makes you so much more relatable,” Beckstrom said. What’s more, effective communicators always come from an audience perspective, never a speaker. We must be mindful of this especially when hosting a presentation.

Why You Should Analyse the Audience’s DNA

An audience’s DNA is Demographics, Needs, and Attitudes.

Demographics covers roles and responsibilities, knowledge level, technical language understanding, and ethnic or gender considerations.

Needs asks the questions of: Why should your audience care? What’s in it for them? (WIIFM)

And Attitudes is thinking about the expectations of the audience’s feelings. Will they be advocates or naysayers?

To find out these answers social media resources can be used, in particular, something like LinkedIn and don’t be afraid of asking to learn more. It is important not to make assumptions about who the audience are. A successful communicator is in the preparation.

Another thing to keep in mind with the audience is that you want to zero in on the purpose at the beginning to have a greater chance of achieving it by the end. By beginning with the end in mind, you know the goal of what you want to achieve Beckstrom said.

What Are the Typical Objections

Typical objections often relate to cost and ROI. It is the battle of resources. Therefore, it is important to be mindful of these objections and ask yourself what makes yours rise above the others? Those you are pitching to spend their day being asked and pitched to. You want to rise above and be prepared to know how to handle objections. However, don’t ever fake the answer. Sometimes things come up that you aren’t prepared for and that is okay said, Beckstrom.

Soft Skills Drive Wage Growth

“The job roles that accelerated in terms of wages over the past 30 years were those that combined soft skills and the more technical skills,” Beckstrom said. To make your financial career differentiate, couple your expertise with strong soft skills for good communication. In finance, do you want to tell or make the news? By using effective communication, you can give insight into the information rather than just sharing the information. Turn a decision into action she said.

Beckstrom also mentioned the importance of seeking out mentors that you can use to help. The host, Dr. Chia-Li Chien said to not be afraid to ask someone to be a mentor. Growth and learning will come from them. Furthermore, they can help you expand your network.

One Recommendation From Carrie Beckstrom

The webinar ended with a final thought from Beckstrom. She said you must commit now to honing this skill of soft skills communication. “It will serve you well regardless of your pursuits and it’s a way to differentiate yourself and give yourself a greater edge and more satisfaction,” she said.

If you would like to learn more about careers in Financial Planning, reach out to the Financial Planning program here at California Lutheran University.

About Carrie Beckstrom

Carrie Beckstrom joined PowerSpeaking, Inc. in 2018 after more than 30 years in the learning and development field. Her mission was to help take a company that has positively impacted more than 300,000 people over the past 33 years to new heights in leading-edge communication and presentation skills development.

Prior to joining PowerSpeaking, as ADP’s Vice President, Enterprise Learning, I was honored to lead teams that made Training Magazine’s “Training Top 125” 10 years in a row. Driving those achievements was a vision and passionate sense of direction that said, “Our purpose is to make great people even greater at what they do every day.”
Carrie is passionate about her field because it changes lives, careers, and businesses. Carrie states, “I’ll never tire of seeing people transformed and elevated after learning how to speak their truths, communicate with courage and clarity, and inspire others to move their causes, business, and industry forward.”

About the Host

Dr. Chia-Li Chien is a succession program director at Value Growth Institute, a succession consulting practice dedicated to helping business owners increase their firms’ equity value. Before her private consulting practice, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Chien is a director of the financial planning program at the School of Management at California Lutheran University. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession and retirement planning at national conferences and has published three books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®).

About the Author

Discussion topics will include strategies that enable advisors to communicate in ways that maximize client and company success or reach their goals.

How do you communicate for success?
What form of communication is most important when considering goal efficacy?
How will communications help you grow your practice?

Financial Planning Scholarship Announcement

Rosie Baker — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 01:56:10 +0000

Earlier this year the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning and California Lutheran University announced a new joint scholarship program in an effort to increase the number of CFP professionals.

At the beginning of August, the first inaugural recipient was announced, Tracy Thompson! A soon-to-be December 2020 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance with a Vocal Emphasis and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She is also enrolled in California Lutheran University’s 4+1 Program to earn an MBA in Financial Planning. This announcement marks the beginning of something very exciting in terms of what can be offered to California Lutheran University students and the future of the financial planning industry.

Meet Tracy Thompson

Thompson transferred from Ventura College to California Lutheran University to continue her undergraduate studies. Originally she transferred to earn a BA in Music with a minor in Business Administration. But with a free semester left on her schedule, Thompson decided to transition her business minor to another major.

“I applied for the scholarship because I had got into the MBA 4+1 Program. When I got the email [about the scholarship] I pretty much had all the requirements and I had nothing to lose by applying. Cal Lutheran has been exceptional in their transfer process which made that really easy. Being accepted on campus as a peer has been a blessing. Cal Lutheran has completely expanded any horizon that I had and any chance to surround myself with people that I wanted to be like,” she said.

Thompson has not only found life-long friends, but also confidence within herself. She traveled to Spain with the Choir, is an active part of the community as well as participating in Delta Sigma Pi (DSP) and is the treasurer of the club Circle K.

The Importance of the Scholarship

The scholarship is giving Thompson the possibility to earn an MBA. “Without the scholarship, I doubt I would be able to actually afford the full cost of the program on my own. This is a huge blessing for me. I plan on using this to sit for the CFP exam and be a Certified Financial Planner,” she said.

After earning her CFP Thompson wants to “make financial planning completely transparent and accessible especially to women at any income level and at any age. Women should be able to have access to financial planning no matter where they are at. Having pulled myself out of a very low position of domestic violence I would like to show people how to get out of that,” she said.

Being an adult learner Thompson believes that in the next decade we can expect to see more of others like her. The pandemic has given many the time to reflect and look at what their options are. She wants to use her story to inspire others thinking of earning a degree and an MBA at an older age that it can be done.

Scholarships Provide Opportunities

Scholarships give students the opportunity to progress their educational career without financial worries. For many, earning a degree, whether it be undergraduate or graduate, is an expensive and out-of-reach possibility. The financial planning scholarship helps remove the financial burden while enriching students as they earn their degrees.

The Financial Planning Industry is Changing

Financial Planning is an industry that is progressing now more than ever in terms of increasing representation in gender, race, and ethnicity. The country we live in today is diverse, and there is a need to also have a representation of diverse financial planners. This is an amazing opportunity to go into a field and make a difference to others.

“Cal Lutheran’s partnership with the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning will help us advance diversity in the financial planning profession,” said Chia-Li Chien, PhD, CFP®, PMP®, director of the financial planning program at Cal Lutheran. “We are committed to expanding access to our MBA and MS in Financial Planning program to students in underserved communities.”

For more information, visit the scholarship webpage or contact the California Lutheran University Financial Planning department.

About Tracy Thompson

Tracy is a California Lutheran University student in the 4+1 program. She is completing a BA in Music Performance with a Vocal Emphasis, and a BS in Business Administration with a Finance emphasis in December 2020. She is passionate about choral music, nonprofit administration, and sea turtles. She has been involved with many organizations working at the Grossman Burn Foundation (non-profit) as the Program Support Specialist until the COVID-19 pandemic. She was the coordinator of the Senior Burn Prevention & Education Program. GBF programs include Project Faith, SoCal Survivors (support groups), Burn Treatment, Training & Telemedicine Program, The Humanitarian Assistance Manual (global), Stop Violence Against Women Globally Program.

About the Author:

Rosie Baker is an undergraduate student at California Lutheran University graduating in May 2021. She is studying Communication with an emphasis in PR and Advertising and has a minor in Creative Writing. In July 2020 she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

Working with Women – Linda Clayton, MBA, CFP®

Cynthia Grether — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 23:59:42 +0000

Working with Women as Clients

“Women look at money as a lake perceiving it as a finite source. Men look at it as a river constantly renewing,” said Linda Clayton quoting Liz Pearl at the beginning of her webinar Working with Women as Clients.

As someone who knows very little about finances, it was very surprising to learn that there is such a great difference between men and women when it comes to handling money. I liked that she started the webinar with this quote as it set the tone of what to expect from the rest. Women do not think nor do they act in the same way as men which can be troublesome when Certified Financial Planners work with couples.

As a young woman myself I didn’t realize how many women, in particular those married to men, that don’t take time to learn about their finances and don’t invest. Clayton believes that the reason comes from traditional ideas that women are too busy with motherhood and the man as the provider dominated the more traditional male roles within their lives including the finances. I was particularly surprised when Clayton said that half of marriages end in divorce, but men are providing 80% of the household. This statistic made me very aware that I need to make sure that as a woman I can support myself in case this happens to me later in life. As women we should work towards having financial stability and a plan to support ourselves.

However, I think this is changing, I believe women are no longer taking the back seat in today’s society when it comes to finances. This can be seen on our campus; there are so many amazing, young women working hard towards their career which in return will financially support them to be independent.

Clayton ended the talk by saying, “we’re working forward making sure that these women are empowered, educated and no longer fearful about managing money.” I believe it’s important to encourage women to be more involved with their finances and take control of their long term plans. When they begin this journey they don’t need to know everything which I think can be easy to feel like you need to do.

About the Speaker: Linda Clayton has an MBA in Financial Planning from California Lutheran University, as well as being an adjunct professor there. She is a Certified Financial Planner and Wealth Advisor in Downtown Los Angeles.

About the Author:Rosie Baker is a undergraduate student at California Lutheran University studying Communications with an emphasis in PR and Advertising. She is also minoring in Creative Writing.

References:

Linda Clayton. http://www.lindaclaytonadvisory.com/contact

To watch the archived webinar, click the link below:

Working With Women – Webinar

(March 7, 2019 at 12pm)

Learn more about Cal Lutheran’s Financial Planning Program here and follow us on social media:

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