Meghaan Lurtz (Twitter and LinkedIn) is a Senior Research Associate for Kitces.com, where she researches and writes on virtually everything that falls under the realm of the human side of money. She’s also involved with colleges and universities across the country in their financial planning programs and has her Ph.D. in Personal Financial Planning from Kansas State University.

One of her areas of expertise also happens to be one of the most underutilized, under-appreciated and most effective tools for improving behavior and igniting behavior change with clients or prospective clients. The ability to help someone bridge the gap between their current and future self.

Once you know the tools, ideas, and methods to do so, you’ll watch clients and prospects seamlessly move through the process in a way you never imagined possible.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The research behind why saving for our future selves is like saving for a stranger
• The signals to look for and ways to determine whether someone needs help bridging the gap between their current and future self
• Questions to ask a client or prospect (and when to ask them) to help them clearly define and vividly describe their future
• Five practical and specific ways to bridge the gap with someone that Meghaan has seen work effectively with clients
• Three reasons why we tend to prioritize our current self to the detriment of our future self

 

For more information and resources discussed in this episode, visit: www.wiredplanning.com/episode10

To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners around the world looking for top-notch insights and information on how to leverage behavior, psychology, communication, and emotion to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.

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Technology is a familiar foe to the profession of financial advice.

With Charles Schwab and Bank of America both recently announcing their plans to offer free financial planning software to the masses, the industry continues to inch closer and closer to the commoditization of our technical expertise.

The reality is that constructing a financial plan and building a portfolio will soon be available at a lower cost, in less time, and with less mistakes than working with a financial advisor.

This brings up some familiar questions:

• What does this mean for the role of a financial advisor in the future?
• Should I expect fees to compress and prices to drop?
• How do I add enough value to justify higher fees?

Most importantly: “What can I do to forever insulate my value from the continued threat of technology?”

In this solo episode, Brendan tells a story from the chess industry and the lessons we can learn to:

1) Forever insulate our value from further technological disruption

2) Embrace technology to raise advice to a level we’ve never seen before

To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners around the world looking for top-notch insights and information on how to leverage behavior, psychology, communication, and emotion to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.

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Daniel Crosby (Twitter and LinkedIn) is one of the most highly-respected minds in the modern world of behavioral finance, especially within the realm of financial services. As a Chief Behavioral Officer, his job is to help advisors with the practical application of behavioral finance through tools, training, and technology.

He is a best-selling author of two books on the topic (The Laws of Wealth and The Behavioral Investor) and hosts the Standard Deviations podcast. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to effectively embed and communicate the value of behavioral coaching in your practice
• The most common misconceptions about behavioral coaching
• Three specific strategies everyone can use to help improve client behavior
• An exercise to walk you through where your practice can benefit from behavior and psychology
• How behavioral coaching can insulate your value from any future threat posed by technological advancement
• The technology Daniel is building that will allow you to take behavioral finance to a whole new level

 

For more information and resources discussed in this episode, visit: www.wiredplanning.com/episode8

To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners around the world looking for top-notch insights and information on how to leverage behavior, psychology, communication, and emotion to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.

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Catherine Morgan (Twitter and LinkedIn) is an award-winning financial planner and coach at The Money Panel and host of the In Her Financial Shoes podcast. 

In addition to working with clients on a daily basis, she also has a financial coaching training program, where she teaches financial professionals across the world how to seamlessly incorporate the core skills and principles of financial coaching into their practice.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How personal experiences shape your values, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors around money, including Catherine opening up to share her own powerful story
• Specific questions and strategies Catherine uses to guide clients through the process of uncovering their own experiences and the impact it had on their emotions, beliefs, and behaviors
• How Catherine crafts her messaging and designs her practice to have these conversations with clients and prospective clients given that no one ever says they want to explore their money beliefs
• The relationship-changing benefits of listening and Catherine’s tips on how develop your listening skills
• Why it’s important for anyone that helps others with finances to first explore their own relationship with money and a specific place to start
• The Rapid-Fire 3-Pack of questions on behavioral finance that every guest answers

 

For more information and resources discussed in this episode, visit: www.wiredplanning.com/episode7

To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners around the world looking for top-notch insights and information on how to leverage behavior, psychology, communication, and emotion to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.

Follow Brendan:

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Neil Bage (Twitter and LinkedIn) is highly-renowned in the fields of financial services and behavioral science for has ability to bridge scientific theory with real-world understanding, particularly when it comes to human behavior in light of financial health and well-being.

He’s the co-founder of Be-IQ, a multi-award winning behavioral insights company that focuses on providing research and tools on behavioral finance for financial advisors and planners around the world.

As he puts it, his mission is to bring “behavior to life” for financial advisors.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The “achilles heel” of our industry (Hint: it’s not a lack of technical knowledge)
• Why the future of financial planning will have the human as the center piece
• Examples from hospitality, law, and therapy on how to wrap the human element around technical competency
• The importance of getting clients or prospects into a calm, peaceful state prior to a meeting and specific ways to do it
• When you should actually cancel and reschedule a meeting
• How naming and labeling emotions ignites trust and communication
• The story of an advisor who used the tools from Be-IQ to finally breakthrough to a client after 15 years
• The “Empathy Gap” – What it is and why you should be aware of it in every meeting
• What Neil calls the “transformational benefits” for advisors who bring behavior to life

 

For more information and resources discussed in this episode, visit: www.wiredplanning.com/episode6

To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners around the world looking for top-notch insights and information on how to leverage behavior, psychology, communication, and emotion to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.

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Andy Hart (Twitter and LinkedIn) is the founder of Maven Adviser, the host of the Maven Money podcast, and the founder of Humans Under Management, a behavioral finance conference with a focus on delivering better outcomes for clients. 

As someone who both runs a successful practice as a financial advisor and helps advisors better understand how to apply behavioral finance in their practice, Andy came highly recommended for his ability to provide specific and practical strategies he’s used with his clients for years to promote optimal behavior and deliver better outcomes.

What we discuss with Andy:

• The many realizations Andy experienced that opened his eyes to the fact that he’s managing humans more than money
• How Andy has learned to communicate the value of behavioral coaching despite the fact that it’s rarely seen as a value-add from clients
• Specific framing and labeling tactics Andy uses with clients to prompt optimal behavior and deliver better outcomes
• The dangers of using jargon and how to avoid it
• The “I was thinking number” – a strategy Andy uses to nudge clients to save more than they ever thought they could
• Why he decided to include the behavioral benefits of working with an advisor on his website rather than traditional buzzwords like “Holistic”, “Comprehensive”, and “Customized.”
• The three people Andy would want to listen to at a roundtable discussion on behavior, finance, and psychology
• The books he recommends anyone that’s interested in the field of behavioral, finance, and psychology
• What he would recommend any advisor or planner do in order to start mastering the human side of money and applying behavioral finance into their practice

 

For show notes and resources discussed in this episode, visit: www.wiredplanning.com/episode5

To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners looking for insights and information on how to leverage behavior change, psychology, and communication to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.

Follow Brendan:

Twitter: @jbrendanfrazier

LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier

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As an expert in applied decision science and behavioral finance, Greg gives one example after another on how you can design your practice, your process, and your conversations for optimal behavior and better outcomes.

Greg Davies (Twitter and LinkedIn) is the head of behavior at Oxford Risk, where he focuses on improving financial decision making through the use of behavioral science and is the co-author of the book Behavioral Investment Management. Greg works with advisors and planners around the world on how to apply behavioral finance in order to make optimal decisions in the face of complexity, uncertainty and behavioral biases.

What we discuss with Greg:

• The two types of financial plans: One for technical knowledge and one for governing behavior
• How our human bias makes us ill-equipped to handle the suitability process
• How the implementation of technology unlocks your ability to give better advice AND focus more on the human side of the relationship
• The pitfalls of traditional risk tolerance questionnaires
• The importance of nailing the risk assessment with a focus on anxiety-adjusted returns instead of risk-adjusted returns
• The three components of risk assessment: Risk Tolerance, Risk Capacity, and Emotional Capacity and how to incorporate them all
• How to know whether you need to improve your risk assessment process (Hint: there’s a very good chance that you do!)
• Why selling at the bottom is NOT irrational
• The three people Greg would want to listen to at a roundtable discussion on behavior and psychology
• The books he recommends anyone that’s interested in the field of behavior and psychology
• Where he thinks behavioral finance will be within the industry in 2030

For show notes and resources discussed in this episode, visit: www.wiredplanning.com/episode4

To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners looking for insights and information on how to leverage psychology, behavior change, and communication to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.

 

Follow Brendan:

Twitter: @jbrendanfrazier

LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier

 

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After a serendipitous sequence of events, we’ve officially changed the name to The Human Side of Money.

New name. Same look. Same mission.

The sole purpose of this podcast is to be the your go-to resource for applying behavioral finance into your practice and mastering the human side of money!

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Financial planners and advisors recognize the importance of applying behavioral finance into their practice, especially as the value and future of advice continues to shift towards the human side of money.

 

When asked why the don’t implement behavioral finance into their practice, the top two answers aren’t surprising to anyone:

 

• Difficulty translating theory to application
• Lack of necessary tools and training

 

The technical side of money is easy. The human side is the hard part.

 

In an industry where 99% of the training, certifications, designations, and conference are geared towards the technical side of the relationship, high-quality, top-notch resources on applying behavioral finance in your practice are sparse.

 

In this episode, Brendan answers the most common question posed by advisors and planners when it comes to the human side of money: “How do I develop this skill set?” 

 

The answer lies in a 3-step process:

 

1) Spark Innovation from Outside Perspectives: We need to look to experts in fields like behavior, psychology, communication, and more.

2) Channel Outside Perspective Through Experience: We can learn from those outside of our industry, but ultimately, we need to have a community of other advisors and planners to collaborate with.

3) Refine Through Practice: Like any skill, you’ll never get the results you want without practice.

 

At the end, Brendan provides examples of how Wired Planning and this podcast plan on serving the industry in each of these three areas.

 

For more insights and information on how to leverage psychology, behavior change, and communication to master the human side of money visit Wired Planning.

 

Follow Brendan:

Twitter: @jbrendanfrazier

LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier

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The value and future of financial advice is currently facing a crossroads as it shifts towards blending technical advice with the ability to change behavior.

In this episode, Brendan tells the story of a client meeting he observed that helped shine a light on the forces causing this shift and why most advisors and advisory businesses simply aren’t equipped to evolve and take advantage.

Using this meeting as the lens, he explores:

• Why the future of advice will be more focused on guiding clients through the process and changing behavior for the better
• How heart bypass surgeries, entrepreneurs, obesity, and marriages teach us that providing information and advice will never be a sustainable value proposition
• How pairing technical expertise and the human side of money provides massive benefits to your clients and your business
• The immense gap that exists between the skill set advisors possess and the skill set they need to evolve with this shift in value towards the human side of money
• What advisors can learn from hostage negotiators and therapists in this quest for a new skill set

For more insights and information on how to leverage psychology, behavior change, and communication to master the human side of money visit Wired Planning.

Follow Brendan:

Twitter: @jbrendanfrazier

LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier

If you have any ideas or suggestions for topics or guests you would like to be featured on the podcast, email them to brendanfrazier@wiredplanning.com.

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