By Chuck Jones

We all think we know what a financial planner does. There are almost as many approaches to the discipline as there are financial planners. However you view financial planning, Your Clients for Life: The Definitive Guide to Becoming a Successful Life Planner by Mitch Anthony, Barry LaValley and Carol Anderson will give you another perspective.

At the outset, you know his approach is not strictly conventional because he refers to this specialized field of service as financial life planning. In other words, there's more than money involved in planning your clients' asset strategies.

Anthony says that "the future of financial advice will be framed in a holistic process aimed at the completion of life goals." He further describes the role of a "contemporary" financial advisor as "a life planning concierge with a wealth of resources." He may be onto something.

Clients are looking for a broader role from the advisor than simply performing transaction-oriented tasks.

Financial and personal goals
Financial life planning does not divorce the client from his money the way some financial planning strategies do. It takes into account not just financial goals, but personal aspirations and wish lists. For example, you don't plan to set aside money for just "travel." You plan to save money for a boat excursion through the British Isles, an art tour of Rome and annual trips to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Anthony says he took a poll of many financial planning clients and "Not surprisingly, we didn't hear anyone saying, 'I need someone to buy financial products for me.' Clients are looking for a broader role from the advisor than simply performing transaction-oriented tasks." Clients, he says, are instead looking for life planners to play three roles, that of partner, guide and educator.

The book has many useful charts with practical information, from a comparison of how a client vs. how a financial advisor views money, to how and why various products and services benefit a person at different stages of life. One chart even spells out the life stages, the financial implications involved and the sales opportunities for planners.

Take, for example, a young adult moving away from home: The financial implications are the need for insurance, a savings account, credit cards and getting a financial education. The opportunities for planners include the sale of a first life insurance policy, establishing a first investment account, conducting financial education seminars for young people and giving comfort to parents and grandparents by working with their children.

	PUBLISHING INFO:
	Your Clients for Life: The Definitive Guide to Becoming a Successful Financial Life Planner By Mitch Anthony, with contributions by Barry LaValley and Carol Anderson Dearborn Trade Publishing $35.00, hard cover www.dearborntrade.com

Many advisors will chuckle knowingly at the "I Can't Save Now" chart, which presents a familiar litany of objections people give to establishing a savings plan. They range from "I can't save now. I'm just getting established" to "I can't save now. I'm too old to save."

In between the helpful charts and checklists are softer, almost philosophic, chapters that address how human nature causes people to regard money. These chapters have titles such as "The Meaning of Money," "Work It Out: The Role and Significance of Work in Our Lives" and "Designing Your Life in Retirement." While these chapters necessarily concern money matters, they personalize the concepts and present them in terms of fear and joy, worry and confidence, guilt and happiness. Although money is very much a practical concern, human beings most often deal with money based on emotion and personality.

A true life planner
The book also presents stories that illustrates the varied situations people can find themselves in, and how a financial life planner can make the difference. Take, for instance, the story of 54-year-old Joe, who lost his wife to cancer. He wanted to retire and spend more time with his three grown sons. His company offered to buy him out with either a lump sum of $500,000 or a $2,000-per-month annuity for life. Joe went to several financial advisors who told him he was too young to retire. Finally, Joe found a creative advisor who came up with a strategy that would allow him to retire. This last advisor was a true financial life planner. If you want to know what the advisor recommended to Joe, you'll have to buy the book.

In the book's epilogue, Anthony gives some rather engaging advice: "Check your current temperature regarding life balance, purposeful living, and life values and goals. You'll find that you are no different than the clients you serve. It's about having a life. It's about having the time to enjoy the journey. It's about making a difference for the people we love and the things we care about. Money can make or break us in these pursuits. That is why your role is so important."

Your Clients for Life is quite an affirming book.

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