When I first start talking with younger clients, the two questions I get most are, “How much money should we be saving, and where should we put it?”
These are great questions not only for people just starting their financial journey but for seasoned savers too. The answers will differ for each person and depend more on personality than how much they can save. For example, I have clients who are interested in saving money and like the idea of riskier strategies that could produce greater returns. I also have clients who want to save with very little or no risk. Some of the people I talk to want to have a hybrid plan.
So where does that leave us during our first meeting? This means, no calculators, no rates of return, no historical data, no financial models, or anything involving math! It means we just talk. Clients ask questions and get to know us, and we get to know you. Together we find out what your savings style is.
Spoiler alert:
Your savings style will change over time just like any other style out there. This is actually really good news; remember what clothes looked like in the 70’s? Yikes! My point is that peoples wants, needs and desires change over time in turn changing their savings style. I’m a perfect example. When I was younger, I remember saying, “I’m never getting married and definitely never having kids! NEVER!” Well, now I’m married with kids! When my outlook changed, my savings style changed too. I want to make sure that my family is protected first and foremost. I wonder what I’m dead set against now that will change in a few years?
So, what do we talk about to figure out what type of saver you are?
First question I ask is what you want to get out of the meeting. In other words, what’s the reason we decided to meet each other? Once we know why we’re meeting, we talk about things like hobbies and interests, places you’ve lived, pets, kids, family, travel, jobs what financial books you like to read and who helps you make important decisions. Kind of sounds like a first date, right? Well, sort of is. We should really “click” if we’re going to work together. No one likes the breakup process and realistically we could be working together over the next thirty or so years depending on where you are in your financial life so it’s a good idea to make sure we’re a good fit.
Regardless of where you are financially, I find that we can usually accommodate almost any savings style. 1847Financial has the resources to provide our clients with all kinds of ways to save. Do you think it’s important to have someone that understands what type of saver you are? We do!
