Encourage your clients to write their memoir today and provide peace of mind in a unique way. 

By: Jaclyn Strauss, CPA, Founder My Macro Memoir

Like a professional in most other industries, wealth managers must find ways to evolve and be out-of-the-box thinkers to broaden their client base or offer differential value to their existing clients. With the emergence from pandemic life, many industries are looking to redefining how they do business and meet the needs that clients and consumers may not have realized they needed pre-pandemic.

“Finding Common Ground Through Empowerment” became the goal of two women, each accomplished in their perspective fields; Nicole Mayer is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary, and Jaclyn Strauss is a Certified Public Accountant. They both happen to share a passion for empowering others. Their purpose is to show people that they have the power to create the life they want and find lasting fulfillment. Mayer and Strauss believe this is the critical ingredient for true peace of mind.

There is something positive that came out in the year of COVID -19, which we want to share with wealth advisors and others to help people start living their best lives. Pre-pandemic many were feeling so crunched for time that they could not slow down before speeding up. We were finally forced to slow down and seriously think about some of the what-ifs in life and whether or not we were prepared.  There was an immediate realization that people lacked straightforward resources that could have provided them huge value once the entire world stopped.

Human nature draws us all to deal with the urgent rather than the important. We all know, though, that the important always ends up becoming urgent at some point. It is then that as a professional, we receive a frantic call from our clients or even their adult children asking where they may locate things or what they may have from a financial perspective. And sometimes, they may ask if we have something entirely out of our area of expertise, such as their Netflix password. Our initial reaction can range from “are you kidding me?” to “I don’t have it, but I know who does.”

We must provide our client’s tools to empower them and those closest to them to create efficiency today and direction later when someone passes. Sure, programs like EMoney®, Dropbox®, Google Drive®, Fidsafe® are all available. But they all are missing one essential component: the user having the thinking done for them through a guided experience. People still are looking for the most straightforward and time-efficient solutions, quickly forgetting about the time they felt like they had all the time in the world because the lockdowns forced it. We have always had such short memories. That shift has now filled the space with an innovative take on a comprehensive look at information. The approach was to ask a series of yes or no questions to help the user think of anything and everything of possible importance to them and store it in a safe, digital binder.

What does this do for the advisor? It allows for the client to self-identify through a simple click of a “NO” to each question in the platform what their gaps they have. Who will they come to first to fill those gaps? Their trusted advisor. The novel approach here is that the wealth manager or advisor is not approaching the client and telling them what they may need to complete their financaial profile. The client is the hero, and the advisor is their trusted partner here as they have now self-discovered their own needs and are empowered to find the solution. Human nature always points us to want to be the problem solver. Encouraging digital organization is a different way and a different lens to approach a client through that not only sends a message to your client that you care about their whole life, but it also sends a message of care to their adult children.

There could be a door open for generational planning through such a simple and almost stupid, but not stupid solution. Digital organization is a place we are heading, and this trend provides that opportunity for you and your clients. According to induscryarc.com 72% of global organizations will migrate to cloud-based platforms while poor document management accounts for 21.3% of productivity loss (business.com). For those who are hesitant about storing important information in a cloud-based solution, there are built-in options for that to appeal to each of your clients’ preferences when it comes to cloud-based tools.

Once your client can essentially inventory what they do have versus what they do not have and what may be needed, there may be self-reflection on ways to live their best life.  Lately, it seems that many were home creating self-guided courses that come with hefty price tags that were written by “experts.”  After digging a bit further, many of these courses are written by self-proclaimed experts with zero professional credentials to back up their claims. However, we find one well worth it for every ten new courses, genuinely built by an expert. Encouraging clients to take the time to explore one of these self-guided coaching courses that focus on how they picture their future to feel and look like is another unique angle that allows the advisor to be the expert and speak from personal experience.  Some programs use video lessons and guided worksheets to help attendees reflect on their experiences and create their ideal lives. Users are advised through a self-discovery journey to define their values, set goals, and visualize their ideal future. Nicole Mayer is the creator of one of these courses, as she started her career 15 years ago delivering content just like this to large corporate clients and realized how out of reach this type of coaching was for the everyday person.  Our goal is to help people face life’s hurdles, such as a job loss or transition,” Mayer said. “We want to encourage people to dig deep and think about what will make them happier. We know that taking action is the hard part.” The series encourages like-minded individuals to come together and find support.

Mayer and Strauss want people to find community through digital platforms, just like they did. And they want to keep the series accessible, affordable, and user-friendly for all. “We want to make sure that we keep the cost low, so that price isn’t a barrier to anyone,” Strauss said. “For Nicole and I, genuine friendship was the missing piece of the puzzle. We want to help everyone build friendship, awareness, and knowledge so that they can live their best life.” You can start simplifying your life by visiting www.mymacromemoir.com and start living your best life by visiting www.findyourbestlifenow.com.