AdvicePay Financial Advisor Blog

What's your Whoop-de-do level This season?

It’s the holiday season, and there’s a holiday song I’ve never quite understood. As with most holiday songs, there are a lot of versions, but I’m going with the medley of “Happy Holiday” and “The Holiday Season” as popularized by Andy Williams. And here’s the line that really gets me:

“It's the holiday season, so whoop-de-do...”

First of all, who says “whoop-de-do”? Second of all, what sort of enthusiasm is that for the most wonderful time of year* (also known as Mariah Carey’s holiday)? This expression feels like a well-intended effort toward genuine holiday excitement that just gets lost for words.

Between work and extra time with family and friends -- all wonderful, but time is the operative word here -- this season can become exhausting to the point of mere whoop-de-do levels of excitement. Managing ourselves well -- our greatest business asset -- becomes even more important during this busy time of year.

5 Ways Financial Planners Can Avoid Making Early Mistakes

When starting a financial planning firm, advisors often fall into traps around:

• Who they work with;
• How they work;
• And the systems and processes they implement.

The five mistakes listed below provide examples for how these common traps play out, and offer solutions for how to avoid them.

articulating what we do

Growing up, I was told my grandfather was a financial planner. He had a thousand clients and hit a home run - or was it a grand slam? - with some Chinese stock. Or so the legend goes.

I was also taught about how much my grandfather cared for people - his clients, his neighbors, his family. Based on my early memories of him and the stories I’ve heard over the years, I am confident he served his clients with integrity and to the best of his abilities with the resources available to him. However, I’m not sure "financial planner" accurately describes the work he was doing - at least as I understand comprehensive financial planning today.

At AdvicePay, we are asked this question often, and it’s an important one to consider. Charging a fee “too frequently” can make clients feel nickel-and-dimed, and may stress the relationship if the client feels they’re being charged more often than they’re talking with or receiving services from their financial planner. On the other hand, charging “too infrequently” will make each fee larger when it does occur, potentially causing sticker shock and more disruptive cash flow for your clients.

What's the Most Common Fee Frequency?

There are four common fee frequencies, each with different pros and cons, depending on your business and the clients you serve.