Holistic Financial Planning is Pleasant !

The title of this post is a possibility, that holistic financial planning can be fun!  But in my experience that is almost, without exception, a myth.  Because holistic planning involves frank discussions of the following not-so-fun topics:

1. Death- I ask my clients to complete a Life Expectancy calculator.  Approximate longevity is essential for Social Security timing as well as for accumulation spend-down of retirement funds.  Plus, using the calculator saves them the embarrassing questions about their health, habits and genes.
2. Disability- Unless you luck out and leave this world in a sudden manner, old age & sickness are pretty well guaranteed.  Long term care risk is high, as are the costs.  Losing one's job or occupation due to disability is a risk.  And the underwriting gaunlet and high premiums reflect the degree of risk.
3. Divorce- titleing of property, income disparity and beneficiary designations need to be structured so as not to be devastating to the lower earning spouse in case divorce occurs.
4. Politics- Usually considered off-limits, if something political is going on that may affect a client's plans, I bring it back on the table.  A great example is our current mentally and morally unfit President.  What will happen if he succeeds in repealing the Affordable Care Act, in the absence of a viable alternative solution (as opposed to alternative facts)?  What if he meddles in Social Security, as he most likely will?  What if his retaliations against our trade partners is reciprocated and you lose your job?  We need to anticipate and minimize the risk of these near certainties.
5. Religious Beliefs- Also a forbidden topic between most professionals and their clients, religious beliefs may have to be considered.  Some folks believe they don't need to plan, or change their plans, because God wouldn't think of allowing them to go broke.  Ahem.  Just look at all the bad things that are allowed to happen to good people.  Why would you be immune?  I tell of the early Christian Coastal Native Americans saying, "Trust in God but row away from the rocks."
6. Rotten Children-  A plan I have never, ever, in 36 years seen succeed is attempting to buy the love of your rotten children.  Forget about how they got that way and whose fault it is.  You owe it to each other to dig in your heels and protect your retirement assets.  Model for them good self care.  Their unemployability, bad marriages, serial relationships, illegitimate children, drug addictions, perpetual student-hood and disrespect for you and your future are not your problems.  You gave them life and a head start.  Your job is done.

This may be one of the harshest posts in a long time.  But I deal in reality.  Because I want the best possible outcomes for my clients.  Nothing is off the table.

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Christian Financial Planning

The title of this post asserts nothing so it is more of a contradiction than a myth.

I know. I'm tugging on the tail of a hungry & rather grouchy lion. But this blog is intended to be controversial and challenging.  What could be more controversial and challenging than religion and money?  Case in point is "Christian" financial planning.

What is  "Christian" financial planning?  Oddly, none of the "Christian" financial planning websites I visited even mentioned Jesus.  Perhaps it was because Jesus' financial plan was quite clear:  Sell everything and give it to the poor (Matthew 19:21).  And then there's Jesus' metaphor of a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle having better odds than a rich man attempting to enter Heaven (Matt. 19:24). Not being a Biblical literalist- since I can't read Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek -from everything else I've read about him, I think Jesus was referring to attachment to or obsession with or love of money (or any other ego attachments for that matter) not just the mere possession of wealth. 

Here is the key point:  without emotional attachment to material wealth, you would indeed gain more happiness by relieving suffering, by giving, than from amassing and clinging to wealth.  (How contrary to the sadistic, stingy behavior so common in some supposedly religious circles today, no?)  Hence the camel metaphor. [Some scholars suspect a mistranslation- remember, this was an oral history -that instead of "camel" (kamilos) the Greek word was "kamelos" or rope. The metaphor still gets the idea across as neither rope nor camel will fit through the eye of a needle.  BTW, there is no scholarly basis for interpreting "needle" to mean "doorway", as the tour guides may tell you.] So is it unreasonable to ask this?:  Why would a "Christian" financial planner do his clients the massive disservice of encouraging attachment to wealth, thereby preventing their entry into Heaven?  (To be fair, several of the websites did emphasize the tax advantages of charitable giving.)

Here is where the grand contradiction occurs:  Self-labeling as "Christian financial planner" is meant to imply "Hey, you can trust me without knowing anything else about me!". But then, every Christian financial planning website I've reviewed reverts to mostly Old Testament "Biblical financial principles". That way they don't have to deal with Christ's rather simple wealth redistribution plan for which their services would be unnecessary.

Anyway, even if you use a "Biblical" financial adviser, insist on these basics:

1. A holistic approach.  A good planner will ask lots of questions and deal with you as a whole person, not just as an investor or product consumer.  
2. Unbiased advice, meaning driven by evidence and reason rather than production quotas.  Please base your trust on evidence and understanding, not warm & fuzzy buzzwords.
3. A legal fiduciary who must put your best interests first, ahead of his own and his firm's.  Ask a lot of questions too, and assume nothing.

Your Constructive Comments are Welcome!