Good Relationships Rely on Good Communications

Good Relationships Rely on Good Communications

Satisfaction within a relationship depends largely on communication that sets expectations and fosters trust. The familiarity that comes with long-term relationships often leads to shortcuts in communication through assumptions, one way to sabotage a relationship.

A financial advisor wants to foster their long-term relationship with you by ensuring they don’t resort to shortcuts and assumptions. One way they do that is by setting client service standards that establish expectations for the services they provide, the way they provide them and the steps you can take to help them do the best job possible.

Making them aware of changes in your life, both big and small, ranks at the top of that list of steps. Between current contact information and major events like marriage, birth of a child and a death in the family, lie those life happenings you may not think to share. These may include loss of a key account at your business or employer, damage to your home or the gradual decline of a parent’s health.

Because we tend to let lesser events slip by in our busy lives or we become accustomed to gradual changes, it’s important for you and your advisor to meet face to face periodically to talk about your life and your finances. It is generally recommend meeting at least annually, but your individual circumstances may require more frequent meetings, perhaps just until a situation has resolved itself.

These meetings are most productive when you share with your advisor your full financial information. Clients sometimes think of us only in terms of asset management and growth. To provide the best service, a financial advisor benefits from understanding your financial obligations and current risk management tools as well as your assets and wage earnings. Your financial advisor can work with your other professional advisors, such as an attorney or CPA, to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

Call a financial advisor today to schedule a time to catch up over coffee or perform a more comprehensive year-end portfolio review.

FINANCIAL FACTS

Estate Taxes – The maximum amount that a deceased individual may pass onto his or her heirs federally estate-tax free (with proper planning) rises to $5.34 million in 2014, up from $5.25 million in 2013. The limit was $325,000 in 1984 or 30 years ago (source: Internal Revenue Service, BTN Research). 

Avoiding The Dreaded Dip – As of Nov. 10, 2013, the S&P 500 has gone 769 calendar days without a 10 percent or greater drop in the index, the fifth longest stretch without a double-digit pullback in the past 50 years. The longest stretch without a double-digit loss in the past 50 years was the 2,553 calendar days which ran from Oct. 11, 1990, to Oct. 7, 1997 (source: BTN Research).   

Skill Set – If the 3.883 million job openings in the U.S. were filled, the number of unemployed Americans would drop from 11.272 million to 7.389 million, and the jobless rate would fall from 7.3 percent to 4.8 percent (source: Department of Labor, BTN Research).