The Value of the Third Eye

1942: Thru Different Eyes - Loring

Times are harder. It is often difficult to face up to harsh facts. I have been working with a lovely couple for several years and we recently reached the point, where some difficult things needed to be said. They had been having a very tough time. Business was not going anything like as well as hoped, for a variety of reasons, many of which were beyond their control. Sadly the situation needed some significant surgery and resulted in having to sell and downsize the family home. This was very difficult as you might imagine (and many that run their own businesses can imagine such a scenario).

Unfortunately the advice from their Accountant and Solicitor was good but wrong and they were due to follow through on it. Fortunately our meeting revealed further information and deeply held values that the other professional advisers had missed. It wasn't their fault, they were not "lacking", merely that a good financial planner has a very different relationship. It is perhaps surprising to many that the Accountant was focused on the money, as was the Solicitor - but missed the bigger picture. Their advice was "fine" but wrong in the context of what was really wanted and needed, because this is rarely within the remit of either, yet many might presume that it was, because, to simplify matters, it was about protecting the home from a future that may not go as well as hoped. I'm not for a moment knocking Accountants or Solicitors, merely attempting to explain that as a financial planner (a good one) my role is to help clients to verbalise what they really want from life and then provide solutions. This involves looking beyond the presenting problem and invariably goes far deeper and then shapes the advice from the client's real perspective.

I work with other professionals like Accountants and Solicitors. My role is to help each perform their own to the best of their ability and it is helpful that like most financial planners, I can re-interpret what other professionals say to a client in a way that makes sense, which is quite an unusual position to be in when my own profession is known for talking in jargon all too often.