I sleep like the dead. There could be crises coming at me from all sides, and I’d still need to be shaken awake in the morning. Not everyone is so lucky. I had a new client come in last week. My assistant seats all clients and offers them two menus: one lists a variety of hot and cold beverages and the other has quite a lengthy list of treats and snacks from which to choose. This new client said she was too anxious to even think about eating or drinking anything. Beca, my terrific assistant, gently ushered her back to my office.
I’ll make a long story short. This lovely lady had divorced a while ago (her husband had handled all things financial) and had been given quite a lot of advice that wasn’t in her best interest. She was beside herself and had spent more than a few nights over the last several months tossing and turning with worry. She didn’t care about alpha or beta or risk coefficients. She wanted simple answers in plain-English to hard questions: Was she going to outlive her nest egg? How could she provide for special-need children? What would happen if she needed long-term care?
The beauty of running my own practice and doing business my way meant that I could take care of this client in the way she deserved. I spent three hours with this special woman and I’m happy to report that at 1-1/2 hours in, her appetite had kicked in. Beca was dispatched for green tea and “goodies”. We knocked all the concerns, big and small, out one at a time until we had a common-sense plan in place. When’s the last time your financial advisor took her time and spent three hours with you?
I have the best job in the world! I am so grateful to look forward to going to work each morning and for loving every minute once I get there. I like eating and paying my bills, but I don’t work for the money. I do what I do because I get a terrific charge out of serving and watching my clients drink green tea and eat cookies.