Episode summary
Communicating The Value Of Financial Planning That Clients Don't Come For - Kitces & Carl Ep 186
Financial Advisor Success (Kitces)
· · 33 min · Hosts: Michael Kitces, Carl Richards
Summary
The conversation argues that the deepest value of financial planning is not the initial problem a client brings in, but the larger life change that often sits underneath it: purpose, identity, meaning, and self-transcendence. The host and Carl Richards use examples like a client reacting with fear or terror to a dollar sign because of childhood experiences, or business owners hesitating to sell because they are unsure what comes next, to show why planners need to look beyond surface requests.
They agree that these deeper stories usually do not appear in a standard intake form. Instead, they often emerge during the relationship when an adviser notices emotional mismatch, slows down, and opens space for the conversation. Richards argues that the challenge is not whether these moments matter, but when and how to reveal them.
On marketing, they argue that advisers should still lead with the problem clients expect to solve, but use stories to show the deeper transformation that can follow. The goal is to help prospects understand, upstream, that planning can lead to a richer relationship than just investment management.
Key takeaways
- The host argues that the highest expression of planning is helping clients with self-transcendence, even though nobody calls for that at the start.
- Richards says advisers should pay attention to emotional mismatches, because a client’s reaction can reveal a deeper money story.
- Both agree that important context about money often emerges months or years into the relationship, not in the intake process.
- Richards says marketing should start with the problem to be solved, then use stories to show the deeper transformation underneath it.
- They argue that referrals and written stories can prime prospects to expect a more meaningful advisory relationship.
Notable quotes
“the ultimate expression of what we actually do as financial planners is helping clients with selftrcendence”
“we're going to sell a business. We're going to have we're going to have a pool of we want to make sure we do it smart”
How the episode opens
Hello, Michael Kitsus. — Greetings, David Carl Richards III. — The third. That's exactly right. — The third.
It's funny. I just met I was just up um we were up skiing in the Tetons, the mountain range, not far from here, and I met a guy who introduced himself as Jed. His name is Jed Porter.
He's a mountain guide. And then I found out later his full name is Jedadia. And I was like, "Dude, you gotta own that.
Like, if you're a mountain guy in the in Wyoming and you have a name like Jedadia, you gota you got
The third. — Exactly. — I mean, something — You got families that have been there for a long time. — Exactly right. That's right. So anyway, yeah, David Cari. So last time, let's just I'm just going to skip right in. Last time we talked a bit about this challenge
Of
The most valuable thing we do in people's lives like I I kind of feel like and again I I'm often wrong never in doubt but I kind of feel like the ultimate expression of the work we do is and you can whatever language whatever language you want to use around it but meaning alignment purpose but I love we're just going to co-opt Bane's language like the ultimate expression of what we actually do as financial planners is helping clients with selftrcendence.
Do we do we need to define this? How — Said exactly no one when they were looking for when they were looking for a financial planner, right? Like self-trcendence. What is it? Helping other people or society more broadly. — Okay. So
Getting somebody — So this I'm a step beyond self-actualization is like getting me to the next level — And self-trcendence like I'm so myself I'm lifting society as a whole.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- client communication
- financial planning value
- self-transcendence
- storytelling in advising
- marketing peace of mind
Companies and tickers mentioned
- The Society of Advice
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Financial Advisor Success (Kitces), this episode and its artwork belong to Michael Kitces. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
