If there’s one lesson we’ve learned from the pandemic, it’s how to be flexible. Whether your life was completely upended, or barely impacted at all, there’s no question that the world around us has shifted dramatically in the last 13+ months. When this all began, many businesses and even industries were forced to pivot and engage with their audiences in a new way.
And as individuals, many of our lifestyles changed significantly. We may have experienced one or more of the following:
- Working from home 100% of the time, which for many people led to the purchase of a bigger home or renovations of an existing home.
- Radical changes to spending, such as reduced/eliminated travel, gas, parking, eating out and entertainment costs.
- Perhaps most profoundly, a reexamination of what is most important to us and whether we want to make any shifts, professionally or personally.
How does this relate to financial planning?
There are a couple of parallels here. You may have noticed that I do NOT offer a standalone/one-time financial plan. Why not? It’s TOO STATIC! One of the primary reasons I structured my engagements with clients to meet on an ongoing basis: life changes ALL THE TIME.
In the last year, how many of these things have you experienced?
- Major house repairs/renovations,
- A large bonus or salary increase,
- A job change or new business opportunity,
- Significant changes in your spending (see above, but largely travel/entertainment=down, home improvements=up),
- A refinance of your primary mortgage, reducing your monthly payment amount,
- An IPO, merger or other significant change at your employer,
- Hiring a nanny/educator or beginning private school for your child(ren).
There’s certainly some value in a one-time 75-page plan, but it’s fairly limited, in my opinion. I prepared some of these standalone plans for clients in January and February 2020 (at my former firm). Many of these were totally obsolete within a couple months.
The process of financial planning is just that: a process. And a highly dynamic process at that. The exercises I work through with new clients, around goal-setting and defining values, are likely to be revisited and reviewed every single year. While some people are unwavering and single-minded in their focus, the vast majority of people I’ve worked with have shifting priorities.
Walking the walk
If anyone had told me 18 months ago that I would quit my job (which I very much enjoyed) to launch my own firm, I would never have believed them. Here I am, almost 9 months in with nearly 50 clients and tremendous growth; you better believe my situation is different. My cash flow has changed profoundly, and I’ve had to thoroughly revise my plans for everything from work-life balance to retirement. And that’s OK! In fact, it’s more than OK. Among other things my job satisfaction is dramatically improved. As I said, I liked my former job, but the ability to create something from the ground up is satisfying on a different level.
My financial situation has changed and I’ve had to incorporate those changes into my “plan”. Again, I don’t love the idea of a static plan, but having something that one can adjust as needed is much more impactful. Imagine working with a planner and having an annual meeting cadence. In my case, my life a year ago could not look more different. Would my planner be able to adapt to my changing circumstances mid-year? Or would that have prompted a response like “we’ll review the changes at our next meeting” (in, say, 9 months)?
Takeaways
If you’re looking for a financial planner, I’d encourage you to consider working with someone who has this mindset around the dynamic and flexible nature of this work. Financial plans are not set in stone. If the planner or firm doesn’t have a mechanism to easily manage updates and changes to “the plan”, I’d consider continuing to search.
If you already have “a plan”, remember that, while useful, it is likely to need regular updates and modifications. As planners, we make assumptions all the time: about inflation rates, and longevity and all sorts of things which are ultimately “unknowable”. Our job is to react to changing information and help you continue to move forward with confidence and reassurance that your money is set up to help you live your most fulfilled life.
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