If one was to cut a stick of butter right in two with a razor sharp butcher’s knife, that would be my life. The first half of the butter I was a pastor and ordained minister serving churches. The second part of that stick of butter has been estate and financial planning.
I have learned so much about the real world, the meaningful world in both professions. Now in my senior years I am still enthralled with helping people solving family issues that pertain to estate and financial problems.
As a minister and pastor I saw the side of greed and need from my own congregational members. However, now I see this so often as an estate and financial advisor—the greed especially has flourished like a giant wild weed.
If I may be religious, when the Master walked this earth He taught about a new and living way—a new ‘pact,’ or covenant that the former world had no clue existed. Not to get too deep into theology but that ‘pact’ the Master shared was the Good News for those who believed.
Strangely enough the ‘pact’ or covenant we make with clients today in estate and financial planning carries (or should carry) the highest integrity and honest disclosure and transparency that can possibly be given by financial advisors.
I am a Latin fiend. And the word for ‘pact’ in Latin is ‘pactum.’ It simply means an agreement. This is so crucial when it comes to working with a client’s pocket book. You just don’t reach down into a man or lady’s pocket book or purse to make a sale.
Clients today have become more knowledgeable and educated and I must say, suspicious of estate and financial planners; and they should be. We live in a world unfortunately of so many scams, Ponzi schemes and disappointing professional advisors.
One of my dearest friends, a client as well, is currently serving a number of years in a federal prison. All because of breaking the ’pact’ he had promised to his own clients.
And this is why I write. That incredible and important ‘pact’ we make with a client, and that client’s financial future is literally their lives, their hopes and dreams, most of all their retirement dollars. If we fail them, they are cooked, literally.
A pact between two parties means everything when it comes to business. So many unnecessary disagreements occur and bridges are burned because a pact was broken because of business partnerships being destroyed.
The same is true for people managing people’s money. I cannot emphasize enough the many different personalities of clients that I cope with every week. It is not always about money and assets. It is mostly a matter of ‘reading the room.’
Reading the room means picking up (sensing) the client’s intentions, their attitude, mood and sincerity in a planning session. After many years I can say emphatically and truthfully that I can read the room. It doesn’t take long if an honest and genuine pact is going to exist between me and the client.
Many years ago a ‘handshake’ was all that was needed to seal a deal. The illustrious Cowboy Artist, Tim Cox, depicts two cowboys on their horses while shaking hands across a barbed wire fence. That handshake meant something at one time in our history—unfortunately not today.
Did you know that in our great Country according to the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, over 100 million lawsuits are filed in state trial courts annually, and over 400,000 cases federally (Feb 22, 2024 https://blakeharrislaw.com).
This tells me how feeble and ‘lost’ a handshake is in our society.
It is no wonder that my favorite quote all these years is from the wise and creative genius, Mark Twain. He once said so affably and honestly, “Do what is right. This will gratify most people and astonish the rest.”
A pact, an agreement, a contract or understanding should mean everything when it comes to a client/financial planner’s relationship. This should be the glue that holds them together for years, not just a week or two, but for many years to come; otherwise many red flags will unnecessarily raise their head. And choppy waters are sure to come.
No pact! A parting pact. The long term relationship is just not there.
{AMERICAN LEGACY PARTNERS, INC.
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