When are you planning to retire?
This seems like a perfectly reasonable question for a financial planner to ask a client, right?
Yet is it perfectly reasonable?
Or is it an example of making an assumption about someone that has the potential to switch them off?
This article is about the dangers of making assumptions and what you can do instead.
How does your client see their world?
Several years ago Standard Life ran a campaign called ‘The death of retirement’. Fair play to them because they recognised that the ‘industry’s’ approach to retirement was disengaging for many baby boomers and subsequent generations.
They produced a report called ‘Age old stereotypes’ that went into depth about how baby boomers view life post age fifty five.
In their ‘Third Age’ (because they potentially have another third of their lives to live) they want to continue to work, start businesses, travel, be active, contribute, and lead meaningful lives.
Many baby boomers do not relate to the traditional view of retirement. For instance, I was reading an article about the founders of M&C Saatchi. All wealthy men and in their 60’s, one of them said:
“The notion of retirement gets more distant as we get closer to it. People used to say success was making enough money at 55 to retire. Now success is never retiring.”
So, a seemingly innocent questions such as, “When are you planning to retire?” is one example of the professional person imposing their view of the world upon their client.
Surely, it is the professional persons job to start with a blank slate and discover how the client sees their world?
We all live in separate realities
All of us live in a completely unique psychological world made of our own thinking.
Of course, we may have similar thoughts to some other people but it is a mistake to assume that everyone sees the world the way that we do. When we make assumptions we are believing something is true without having any evidence that it is.
We may speak the same language and use the same words but we will have our own precise meanings to what we think and say.
So, rather than assuming we know what people mean it is better to be curious and ask. A powerful question is, “What do you mean?”
By asking and being willing to listen you are allowing your client to explore their own thinking and gain greater clarity. This makes the advice process more meaningful for them.
When you understand your client and how they see their world it gives you the opportunity to respond and deliver solutions in a way that completely makes sense to them.
PS. Will your financial plan pass the ‘So what?’ test? Click here.
