Leveraging a Master List of Goals to Uncover Clients’ True Financial Priorities

Identifying and prioritizing client goals is essential to creating effective holistic financial plans. However, many advisors face the challenge of helping clients articulate their true objectives. Clients often come to their advisors with surface-level goals, but research suggests these initial goals may not reflect what truly matters to them.

XYPN's partnership with fpPathfinder offers a practical way to achieve this through their Master List of Goals Checklist. This tool is one of many that fpPathfinder has to help advisors uncover clients' true financial priorities, moving beyond basic goals to reveal what really matters. 

A Morningstar study illuminates this issue by testing the impact of behavioral nudges on helping clients better identify their true priorities. The findings reveal a significant gap between the goals clients initially present and those most important to them. Let’s explore how this resource can improve client conversations and demonstrate the value of tailored financial planning.

Closing the Gap: Helping Clients Overcome Cognitive Blind Spots

This research highlights the importance of overcoming cognitive blind spots. Financial plans can be less accurate and less motivational when clients aren’t fully aware of their goals or struggle to prioritize them. Advisors are tasked with uncovering and framing clients' goals in a way that engages them to take action.

To address this challenge, fpPathfinder developed the Master List Of Goals Checklist, inspired by the work of Ray Sin, Ph.D., Ryan O. Murphy, Ph.D., and Samantha Lamas, who authored “Goals-Based Financial Planning: How Simple Lists Can Overcome Cognitive Blind Spots” in the Journal of Financial Planning. This checklist provides a comprehensive menu of different financial planning goals for clients to consider, helping to bridge the gap between what clients say and what they truly value.

Using the Master List Of Goals Checklist to Enhance Client Conversations

The study indicates that “a master list helped clarify a person’s previously ambiguous self-reported goal…[and] about 27 percent changed their top goal from a general idea to a more specific one.” What does this mean for advisors?

The fpPathfinder Master List Of Goals Checklist is designed to help expand clients' understanding of what’s possible, prompting them to think about financial planning more holistically. The checklist covers a broad range of goal categories, including:

• Retirement and Lifestyle Goals: Whether it's retiring or finding a new home, these goals often top the list for many clients. Yet, there may be nuances or additional factors they haven’t considered.
• Tax Planning & Healthcare Goals: From minimizing tax burdens to ensuring long-term care coverage, tax and healthcare objectives are critical but often overlooked until it’s too late.
• Self-Development and Professional Goals: Clients may have aspirations beyond financial security, such as advancing their education or changing careers. These goals are vital to a comprehensive strategy but often not considered when crafting a financial plan.
• Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer Goals: Helping clients who want to leave a legacy plan for wealth transfer is essential. Whether they aim to support family members, charities, or other beneficiaries, estate planning can ensure their wishes are carried out effectively.

Leveraging Your Master List of Goals Checklist as a Tool

• Use with prospects to show your value and establish trust: Sharing a white-labeled version of this guide can help establish the advisor as a trusted expert. This is done by demonstrating their knowledge of financial planning considerations and their ability to incorporate a broad range of goals into a holistic, personalized plan. Plus, it can be an eye-opening experience for a prospect to gain clarity on their goals.
• Use when the financial plan is on track, and you’re trying to show your value:  When the plan is on track, and the investments are doing well, how else can you show your value?  With this guide, you can approach your client with new planning opportunities.
• Re-engage with smaller clients: If you segment your clients, use this checklist with your C-level clients to find more planning opportunities you may ordinarily miss because you are not working with them as closely as your A and B clients. 
• Use it when a client is going through a life event: The checklist acts as a communication tool during client conversations, especially during times of change or when getting to know new clients or prospects. It helps to guide deeper discussions about needs, goals, and challenges. Priorities may change when a career change or other life events occur.

Why Goal Setting Matters in Financial Planning

Goal setting is the foundation of any sound financial plan. Whether you're meeting with new or long-term clients, it’s important to identify and prioritize their objectives before making recommendations. Often, clients may have difficulty expressing their goals or assigning them a clear order of importance. Others may overlook key objectives entirely due to a lack of awareness or simply not understanding how they fit into their financial picture.

As a financial advisor, you play a pivotal role in uncovering and framing your clients’ goals. By guiding them through a structured process, you help ensure that their financial plan reflects their true priorities, not just the goals at the top of their minds during meetings.

Empowering Advisors with Behavioral Insights

By leveraging behavioral insights and providing clients with a structured process to think through their goals, advisors can significantly improve the client experience they provide. Incorporating this guide into your practice can lead to deeper, more insightful conversations and, ultimately, more effective financial strategies tailored to each client’s needs.

As financial planning continues to evolve, tools like the Master List Of Goals, backed by robust behavioral research, can help you provide even greater value to your clients. With a clearer understanding of their true priorities, you can craft financial plans that meet their immediate needs and inspire long-term client success.