Thanks for the long write up. I feel that it is valuable since we rarely see post about the working of an advisor. I am curious what your typical client's profile are. Are they mostly younger and starting out or retired? Do they need a lot of hand holding or mostly DIY seeking a second pair of eyes.I am, yes. In my case, any/all questions/time whether via email/phone/meeting are simply tracked and I send out monthly invoices. No upfront fees. At risk of sounding like an advert [but hoping the education in this response is valuable], I ensure I have enough free time in each day to be able to respond to emails or return messages within 24 hours but it's usually same day, and that if clients want to schedule a phone or meeting I usually have next-day availability. When I fear that I'm too busy to ensure access to existing clients, I pause new clients. I really like when people call me on a whim. I don't schedule meetings before 10am (unless someone directly requests it) so I can clear out the overnight emails and start the day fresh. But there are many days/weeks when I'm sitting around doing nothing because I didn't time things just right and my wife thinks I don't have a "real job".
It's indeed true that so many advisors have long wait lists, and many don't really "want" follow-up work. Hourly advising is inherently non-scalable, so one has to be very efficient. Focus on the plan, give the client a deliverable, move onto the next plan. Leaving buffers/gaps in case a clients needs you for a 5 minute conversation is inefficient and disrupts the workflow. But this model can be great for many DIY folks who don't really need or want any follow-up. But in my case, half my day is series of 5-15 minute questions. I even let clients schedule meetings in advance with no minimums. I've had a scheduled zoom which took only 5 minutes and then the client is like "I'm good!" and we end the call and I move onto other things. I also do "admin" tasks. My favorite is example is being asked to research flights for a trip because the client was very busy.![:D]( "Very Happy")
In my opinion, I think it may be more beneficial to meet an advisor earlier in life to set things up and get the snowball rolling than when you are retire where the asset you accumulated is already set and it's probably too late to make big changes. Ironically, in the past, you could not hire anyone until you have some money.
As for your comment that PAS is really an asset management than financial planning, what do you feel that Fee only do that is above what PAS might provide?
Statistics: Posted by gavinsiu — Tue Oct 08, 2024 10:38 pm — Replies 22 — Views 688