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Client-Centred

Life Planning

a book by Michael Curtis

Book Outline

The following is a brief outline of the first
three chapters of Client-Centred Life
Planning.

    • Clients have an unfavourable perception about financial
      planning because they are motivated to plan based on the
      negative consequences of mismanaging their finances.
    • Life plans overcome this unfavourable perception
      because clients are positively motivated to plan. They
      create a vision of life that is based on specific wants
      that are vivid and compelling for them
    • Your goal in the life-planning process is to become your
      clients’ chief financial counselor. To achieve this role, you
      must help clients learn how to act effectively so that they
      achieve their wants. Also, you must build deep relationships
      with them

    • Planning is based on closing the “gap” between where
      clients are and where they want to be. To close the gap,
      clients must shift their behaviour. But clients resist change
      because they must step outside of their comfort zone.
    • However, if clients are to close the gap (achieve their
      wants), they must shift their behaviour so that their actions
      are effective.
    • Effective action has five main ingredients: intention,
      learning, belief, preferences, and confidence.
    • Intention, motivated by positive emotions, is the critical
      ingredient.
    • Deep relationships with clients have four main
      ingredients: understanding, dependability, expertise,
      and self-orientation.
    • Self-orientation is the critical ingredient. As the divisor
      in the Relationship Equation, there is a powerful inverse
      relationship between the ingredient of self-orientation
      and deep client relationships. As your self-orientation
      increases, your relationship with clients rapidly
      decreases.

Book Tools

The Is Life planning for Me? client questionnnaire and Ideal Planning Candidates software is referred to in Chapter 15, "Life Planning and Your business."

Please read Screening for Ideal Planning Candidates to learn how to use them.

The My Business Vision spreadsheet also is referred to in Chapter 15.

To download the tools, please click the underlined links.