Between Now and Success

Episode: Recently I was a guest on the Wicked Pissah Podcast, where I talked to hosts Chris Boyd, CFP® and Jeff Tomaneng, CFP® about how my lifelong interest in finance and tech led me to investigate bitcoin's potential as digital money and a store of value. Today's episode is a rebroadcast of that show. Insight: I believe that our global financial systems are at an inflection point. You don't have to agree with me about the role that Bitcoin might play in this transition. But you do need to have an informed opinion so that you can answer your clients' questions and help them make the best decisions for their future.

In a Nutshell: If you want to grow your business, you need to build out a systematic, repeatable action plan that will reach your ideal prospects and motivate them to make some positive changes in their lives — including working with you. Guest: Jeremy Keil is a CFP, CFA, CIMA, and founder of Keil Financial Partners in New Berlin, WI. My Key Takeaways: Be specific. Jeremy's firm is laser-focused on helping folks 55 and older transition into retirement. All their branding and messaging revolves around positioning the firm as an expert consultant for soon-to-be retirees. Take advantage of opportunities. When the pandemic hit, Jeremy doubled his marketing budget, which helped him reach more folks facing early retirement and other COVID-19 financial challenges. You can't make other people change their behavior. But if you improve your interviewing skills and learn how to ask better questions, you can lead folks to realizations that can inspire change. Also Learn: How Jeremy rebranded his business around his target niche and name recognition. How Jeremy created a repeatable marketing system that adds value before a prospect even picks up the phone and generates quality leads. How Jeremy uses motivational interviewing rather than slick sales techniques to turn prospects into clients.

Listen to this episode to learn about the change I'm making to Between Now and Success. The second announcement is the launch of my new podcast. You can subscribe to it here: https://stevesanduski.com/dma/

In a Nutshell: The next wave of fintech and wealthtech will offer dramatic efficiency upgrades for advisors. Prepare your team to spend less time shuffling papers and more time having meaningful conversations with clients that will create real value. Guest: Marty Bicknell, Founder and CEO of the $35 billion AUM behemoth Mariner Wealth Advisors. My Key Takeaways: We need a true advisor desktop platform. Marty believes the independent space still lacks a unified advisor desktop platform and that miss hurts our productivity. But he says it's coming. Embrace change. Before the pandemic, about 25% of Marty's team was using the company's internal technology platform. During the pandemic, usage jumped to almost 100%. Now 85% of Marty's employees believe their productivity is up too. Those kinds of workflow and efficiency upgrades can be permanent if you build buy-in with your own team. Explore your options. From upgrading your existing systems to affiliating yourself with a larger firm like Mariner, advisors need to evaluate the new pathways to growth that are opening in front of them. Also Learn: What Marty says is the number one problem in finance that tech can help advisor address. Why Marty believes that the consolidation trend in our industry "isn't going anywhere, it's just getting started." What changes Marty's team made because of the pandemic that will continue to be part of their business post-pandemic. How Marty is leveraging the advantages of WFH while also helping his team work through the downsides, such as feelings of isolation.

Words have power, especially when you pick three of them at the beginning of the year and use them as a guide for the next 12 months. Life is filled with distractions and it's so easy to let the "stuff" of life knock us off the path we planned to follow at the beginning of the year. But an exercise I picked up from Chris Brogan called My 3 Words helps me stay on that path regardless of what life throws at me. The idea is simple. Pick 3 words that motivate you, remind you, and guide you on your road to making 2021 your best year ever. Then write them down in a place where you'll see them every day. My 3 words are printed at the top of my Daily Outcomes sheet (my prioritized to-do list) so I see them multiple times a day. By being thoughtful when you identify your 3 words and then reviewing them on a daily basis, you'll have a daily reminder of your key focus for the year and this will help you stay on track and on plan.

Barron's Advisor is the gold standard when it comes to advisor conferences, rankings, education, and practice management. I've had a longstanding relationship with them and am thrilled to announce our new collaboration. Learn all the details in today's short episode. And be sure to visit: https://stevesanduski.com/barronspodcast/

In a Nutshell: Learn the basics and dispel the myths around Bitcoin so that you can provide advice that's in your clients' best interests. Guest: Adam Blumberg, CFP, co-founder of Interaxis, a company that provides research and education to advisors and companies in the cryptocurrency, digital assets, blockchain, and DeFi space. My Key Takeaways: Money is complicated. Money's been called many things and we discuss some of its key properties and why Bitcoin may just be the ultimate manifestation of "money." Bitcoin is not going away. It's survived several boom and bust periods and is now hovering near all-time highs. Big players like Fidelity, MassMutual, Paul Tudor Jones, Bill Miller, Stanley Druckenmiller, and many others own and advocate for it. Bitcoin is not for everyone. Not yet, anyway. But as interest rates stay low, federal deficits rise, and ideas like Modern Monetary Theory gain popularity, there's a subset of your client base that will be looking for alternative investments. Do you want those clients buying volatile crypto on their own or working with you to diversify a reasonable percentage of their portfolio? Also Learn: What the difference is between "bitcoin" and "Bitcoin." Why many bitcoin proponents call it "digital gold." Why some of the mystery that turns people off Bitcoin -- such as who created it -- is actually a strength that has helped it gain widespread adoption and acceptance as a store of value. Where advisors are turning to learn more about Bitcoin, even if they ultimately decide to guide their clients elsewhere.

Paul Tudor Jones did it for hedge fund managers. Michael Saylor and Jack Dorsey did it for publicly traded companies. Now, Marty Bicknell is doing it for RIAs and he discusses it with me on my new podcast. Once called "rat poison squared" by Warren Buffett, bitcoin is now going mainstream. After a tumultuous 12-year existence punctuated by head-spinning bull markets, devasting declines, exchange hacks, and its use in criminal activities, bitcoin has grown into adulthood. Bicknell recently announced that his firm, the $35 billion AUM behemoth Mariner Wealth Advisors, will offer bitcoin to its clients through a separately managed account run by Eaglebrook Advisors. To date, only a small number of intrepid advisors including Morgen Rochard, Jackson Wood, Adam Pokornicky, Tyrone Ross, Adam Blumberg, and Isaiah Douglas have done the pioneering work of understanding bitcoin, figuring out the compliance and operational details of offering it, and presenting it to their clients as part of a thoughtful asset allocation.

In a Nutshell: As our industry evolves beyond money management, engaging with clients on their money-life issues and formative experiences surrounding money will be one of your most valuable services. Guest: Dr. Preston Cherry, the Founder and President of Concurrent Financial Planning, a comprehensive financial planning firm serving households and business owners across generations. Dr. Cherry is also an Assistant Professor of Finance & Personal Financial Planning at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay's Austin E. Cofrin School of Business, where he is in the process of building a new personal financial planning program. My Key Takeaways: Experience matters. Your clients are bringing a lifetime of positive and negative money experiences into this working relationship. You need to understand where they're coming from to help them get where they want to go. Bridge generations. Older clients might still be "stuffing money under the mattress." Millennials are curious about the latest bitcoin surge. How are you serving your current client base while broadening your horizons for the next generation? Share your stories. Opening up about the experiences that shaped your own life and career creates real connections. Those connections can create clients for life. Also Learn: Why one of Preston's favorite discovery questions is, "Tell me about a money situation that you've had the last six months." How a combination of open dialogue and measurable assessments can keep clients actively engaged with your planning process. How to use connection, communication, and convincing to "nudge" your clients towards better financial decisions. What Preston saved in an envelope to remind him of an important disconnect between his emotions and his money that he was able to overcome.

Mindy Diamond is the President and CEO of Diamond Consultants in Morristown, NJ. Recently, Mindy invited me to be a guest on her podcast, Mindy Diamond on Independence, and I appreciate her allowing me to share our conversation with you here. Some of the topics Mindy and I discussed include: Why discipline and focus are two essential traits of a financial advisor, especially an RIA CEO who wants to grow a lasting business. Some of the most common problem areas that the advisors I coach are working through right now. How the best advisors crash through perceived barriers by adjusting their mindsets and matching their dream to their desire. The 5 key areas I believe advisors need to focus on to accelerate their growth. Wisdom from top advisors like Ric Edelman, Joe Duran, Jon Jones, Elliot Weissbluth, and Peter Mallouk that you can adapt to your own business. The ways that the pandemic will continue to affect marketing and messaging as we head into 2021. Thanks again to Mindy for having me on and for letting me republish this episode.