Is Your Environment A Mirror OF Your Thoughts?

What Are Your Clients Thinking In Secret? What are You Thinking?

Read this out loud and see if it resonates.

To some extent, professionals hold up a mirror to get clients to understand they must change something.

·?????The CPA shows a business owner the outcome of saving vs not saving for tax obligations.

·?????The estate planning attorney shows the results of getting a will vs a trust

·?????The financial planner shows estimates of finances based on levels of uncertainty.

·?????The insurance agent shows the financial value for a family of a lifetime of earnings.

·?????The real estate agent shows the lifetime delights of owning property

·?????The coach trains strategies in the tool of thought-power to solve problems (business growth, marketing, relationships, planning)

·?????The financial coach teaches mindset strategies and the use of money to improve one’s life

What problems?

Self-deception is an absorbing game until it collapses in the face of reality. Do you know anyone who is playing it?

Bill and Martha came to me to talk about retiring in a year. We reviewed their financial picture, and three issues jumped out:

1.????They had saved $10K to add to a Navy pension and Post Office retirement. Period.

2.????They gave money to any of their six adult children upon request.

3.????Debt: Bill stood up. He's six feet six inches tall and brought out his wallet. Proudly, he dropped the accordion sections TO THE FLOOR to display a credit card facing each direction. "I got them all," he bragged. As if it was a game to win.

What would you recommend to such clients? Yes, right. Perform plastic surgery on the cards. Stop giving money to kids. Make a budget, pay off credit cards before retiring, and live within their income, OR face financial disaster.

Guess what? I never saw them again.

Cash flow issues can face entrepreneurs as well as every human living their lives. The Ogden Nash limerick says it well:

????I have this cash flow problem,

?????????It’s really quite abhorrent.

??Coming in it trickles,

????????But leaving it’s a torrent!

We can identify cash flow issues from our own history and of our clients situations. Have you met a client who needs disability insurance to protect their family and can't pay for it? Have you seen divorces cause financial hardship when one insists on keeping the big house, they can no longer afford on one income? Do you remember a time when your cash flow was not enough?

Bad decision fallout plagues our clients. For example, the parents who want to treat children equally give the family home to the son and daughter. The son was mentally ill, lived in a trailer on the property, and refused to sell. The daughter needed the money from the property to pay medical bills and retire due to health issues.

The wealthy widow wants to control and preserve her wealth beyond her lifespan. She owned 27 rental homes in San Diego. Several years prior had given one of them to her son. He was struggling financially, deeply indebted, and ended up bankrupt. Mom thought her son was incompetent. She didn't understand she could train and educate her son if he was willing.

Emotional and relationship issues surface around finances. A spouse buys a car without agreement, and the payment squeezes their already tight budget. A senior parent needs to move into a daughter's house for more care, and the husband feels shortchanged. A couple has never agreed on a spending plan and puts a vacation on a credit card.

Financial stresses are a leading cause of divorce. Couples argue?about money. Sadly many arguments are in front of their children. What are they teaching their children?

Money Taboos stop conversations that could educate, train, and inform family members in line for inheritance. Wealth holders don't realize the disservice they are doing to their children. In one situation, a just-retired elementary school teacher met with her parents' attorneys to hear their last will. They left her $65,000,000! She had no idea. And no clue how to manage such a fortune.

Addictions harm not only the person involved but the entire family. We usually think about drugs and alcohol. Additionally, gambling, food, and risky sports are also dangerous to family well-being.

Every professional and seasoned coach has heard these. But how can we help?

Let’s go back to the looking glass poem. When you hold a mirror up to a person's environment, they see the truth of their situation. Strong feelings erupt, and sometimes our clients shoot the messenger.

What Solutions?

If you have a client who needs to work through behaviors around money, send them to a money coach. If you see your environment does not reflect your goals, check in with a financial coach. Sometimes a single question provokes a shift that makes all the difference in wealth and well-being.

Dealing with client emotions is messy. A money coach does not do the work of a CPA, CFP?, or attorney, nor does she sell real estate, investments, insurance, or funerals. She serves clients and other professionals in the messy trenches.

Your financial coach is discreet. Oh, the stories we hear. I’ll never tell anyone about my 87-year-old widower client taking up with a 50-something-year-old floozy and telling his doctor the secret to happiness at 87 is cannabis and asking for a refill of Cialis!

When you or your client is ready, a financial coach supports you by creating a safe framework to help recognize and shift the messy mindset around money.