The Cheat Code to Achieving Greatness as a Financial Professional

Written By: Austin Pinkley

Austin Pinkley graduated from the University of Missouri—St. Louis in May 2024. He obtained his B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance as well as a minor in Economics. He is now seeking financial advising opportunities. You may connect with him at amichaelp@att.net.  

Seminar in Finance Overview:

The Seminar in Finance: Financial Counseling & Psychology of Financial Planning course taught by Professor Meghan McInnes, AFC®, FFC®, FBS® at the University of Missouri—St. Louis is incredibly beneficial to any aspiring financial planners or financial counselors. Students become a close-knit group as they work through financial assessments, roleplay different scenarios, and learn about the world of financial psychology. I recommend this type of course for anyone who would like to learn how to look past the numbers and start to understand their clients on a deeper level. It will teach you to always ask “why” so that you can extract the maximum amount of useful information from clients. This deeper understanding will help you build stronger bonds with clients which will prove especially beneficial when trying to knock down any financially harmful mental barriers they have built. 

Past Experiences with Money: 

Speaking of financially harmful mental barriers, many can be found in a person’s past experiences with money. There are a few activities that can be used to help the client look back into their financial past and pick out the most influential money memories they have about money. One of these activities is called the “Money Egg.” The activity begins in somewhat of an odd way as the client is asked to use their non-dominant hand while drawing. This trick helps the client focus more on their impactful memories than the look of their artwork. After constructing an outline in the shape of an egg, the client is asked to start at the bottom of the egg and draw money-based memories in chronological order as they ascend to the top. Immediately following this step, they are asked to draw a plus sign next to good memories and a minus sign next to bad memories. From this point onward, the professional can ask any questions they think may help client progression the most. This is why this activity is so great; after the completion of the egg, the professional has an abundance of information available to them and must simply ask the right questions to truly understand it. If you can find out why these memories are impactful to the client, you will be well on your way to understanding your clients’ financial motivators and barriers. 

Another activity that can be beneficial specifically for family history is the financial genogram. If used properly, a genogram is a great way to find many different types of familial patterns. However, it is important to narrow down the specific patterns you would like to find and direct your clients accordingly to avoid overwhelming them with too many family history questions. Once the genogram is completed, you should have a solid picture of how the client’s family finances have progressed through generations. This can be used to predict and prepare for certain scenarios where the client may face financial difficulties. It is also helpful to magnify these patterns for the client so that they are conscious of them.  

Practice Makes Perfect:

For any career field, it is important that you always continue to improve. For financial planners and counselors, one of the best ways to improve is through roleplay. Roleplaying is an effective way to build confidence in yourself and your abilities in a safe environment. The variation of roleplay I found most valuable is called triad roleplay. This variation brings in a third person to play the role of an observer. The observer has an unbiased view of the roleplay interaction and provides meaningful thoughts on the engagement. Both other parties – the acting professional and client— are also meant to think deeper during this exercise and express their thoughts about the interaction after the session. This feedback is invaluable to all parties involved as it gives each person a window into how the others perceived the session. However, the acting professional receives the most benefit as their strengths and weaknesses are highlighted. Following the session, it is important that the acting professional determines why they were weak in certain areas; this way, they are conscious of these weaknesses and can look to improve upon their previous performance. 

Grow Your Confidence and Abilities:

Determining what activities best help clients is incredibly important. However, they are completely useless if you are unable to use them properly and get the most out of them. So, before using these activities with clients be sure to have a game plan and maybe a few follow-up questions already written beforehand. The best way to continue achieving better outcomes with these activities is to simply practice. As you repeat these assessments, you will learn better how to adapt them to fit the specific client you are meeting. Picking a few activities that you believe will work best for your clients and sticking with them will go a long way in growing your confidence and your abilities as a financial planner or counselor. 

Resources: 

Lurtz, M. R. (2019, June 5). Finding your own money story to better communicate with clients. Kitces.com: Nerd’s Eye View. https://kitces.com/blog/margaret-atwood-payback-debt-book-money-script-egg-narrative/ 

Nelson, R. J., Smith, T. E., Shelton, V. M., & Richards, K. V. (2015). Three Interventions of Financial Therapy: Fostering an Examination of Financial Behaviors and Beliefs. Journal of Financial Therapy, 6(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1058