Critical Praise for Rattiner’s Financial Planner’s Bible: The Advisor’s Advisor “Indispensable advice from an industry leader. Jeff Rattiner, one of the foremost financial planning educators in the country, has written a book that belongs in every planner’s library.” —Richard J. Koreto Executive Editor Financial Planning Magazine “A one-stop shopping resource for setting up and running your financial planning practice. This is a comprehensive guide for be- ginners as well as advanced planners. I wish this bible had been available when we started our investment advisory firm 5 years ago.” —Steven I. Levey, CPA/PFS Principal GHP Investment Advisors, Inc. “Jeff Rattiner knows this business. For rookies just starting out or mid-career advisors refocusing their practices, this book offers sage advice on marketing and practice management. As the finan- cial services industry continues to reinvent itself, all advisors can benefit from his experience.” —Mitch Rose Executive Editor Horsesmouth “Jeff Rattiner’s Financial Planner’s Bible is an indispensable tool for any advisor interested in meeting the competitive challenges in today’s environment.” —E. Clark Griggs Vice President-Financial Consultant A National Financial Services Firm Rattiner’s Financial Planner’s Bible Rattiner’s Financial Planner’s Bible The Advisor’s Advisor Jeffrey H. Rattiner, CPA, CFP, MBA, RFC John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy- ing, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher or authorization through payment of the appropri- ate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Dan- vers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-mail: [email protected]. 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For general information on our other products and services, or technical sup- port, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at 800-762-2974, outside the United States at 317-572-3993 or fax 317-572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. ISBN 0-471-22034-5 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To my children, Brandon, Keri, and Matthew, who everyday pro- vide me with my greatest inspiration. To my wife, Rochele, for her continued love and support. To my parents, Esther and Ronald, who, when the going gets tough, never give up! Preface Through all the training I provide to companies, the one central theme everyone always seems to ask questions around is: “Jeff, we’ve been practicing for 20 years and we’re still not sold on how we can create the optimum practice. We try this, that, and the other thing; yet we always seem to be going in circles. I’d like to es- tablish a prototype model on what’s required to develop the model practice. How can we be the best financial planners we can be? How do we learn to think outside the box, and not get caught up in the fads of today?” Well, that got me thinking. I said to myself, if I were starting out today, what kind of tool would I like to see that would put me on the path to success? Or, if I was an experienced practitioner, what could I learn from other successful planners that would en- able me to benefit from their experiences? At which point I said to myself, wouldn’t it be great to develop a model of how practicing financial advisors can achieve these dreams and their lifelong am- bitions of providing the ultimate in services to their existing clients and a model framework for acquiring new ones? And then, would- n’t it be great to write these ideas down for a practical book so other financial advisors can have the benefit of these ideas when they can still make a difference in their clients’ lives? And would- n’t it be great to educate existing financial advisors on how they can make that happen, while showing them the pitfalls to avoid, the issues to contemplate, the steps to consider, and the hard de- cisions to make, while remaining focused in their quest to take their practices to unforeseen levels? What it came down to, in essence, is a book about being a strong, competent, and ethical fi- nancial advisor. When I think about what makes a strong financial advisor, the one characteristic I see repeatedly is “doing what’s best for the client” in an ethical, practical, and professional manner. How can ix x Preface you make your clients’ lives better? How can you get them to where they want and need to be down the road, versus where they are today? In essence, how can you make their lives better? When you think about it, nothing else really matters, not the image you bestow, the type of office you have, or even the way you are paid. It all boils down to client honor and advisor integrity. And that is when I decided to take John Wiley & Sons up on their offer to write a book that shows advisors how to do the things necessary to build this successful practice. “Successful” being defined as what to do for your clients as well as what to do for yourself, or, in other words, creating the ultimate balance in your practice so you can have your cake and eat it, too! The purpose of this book is to provide you with the logical and tested steps necessary to achieve this mission, all the while sav- ing you time and resources, and avoiding any unnecessary mishaps and heartache experienced throughout the years by leading prac- titioners. It takes a consortium of approaches from various finan- cial planning practitioners emphasizing the good, the bad, and the ugly, while telling you about the do’s and don’ts of each. This book does not follow the sequence of a traditional book on finan- cial planning or the way some of my other books are laid out. I de- scribe to you things the way they are, not the way you would like them to be. I provide a reality check to help you distinguish fact from fiction. I delve into 50 insightful ways of marketing your practice that many practitioners do not currently use, as well as 25 intriguing ways to build up the infrastructure of your practice to support the things you want to do but cannot. We show you how to work with external alliances to create true win-win scenarios, be- cause there really is enough money out there for everyone. To help you visualize where you are in your practice, I have developed a self-assessment system that allows you to quantify ex- actly where your practice is today and what you can do to make improvements to match the objectives you have set for yourself. I have developed worksheets and audit-type programs to give you a true picture of where you stand today and what you need to do to practice successfully. All these practical ideas, along with a model for capturing the technical aspects of our business for planning in the areas of insurance, investment, income tax, retirement, estate, and other disciplines, are provided. By reading this book, when
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