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These commonly abused financial phrases have me rolling my eyes all day long.
1. Comprehensive financial plan
When was the last time you planned for a specific event and did not do so comprehensively?
I’m planning for my kid’s birthday, so I made arrangements for the cake and the decorations. However, I didn’t send out invites to any of the guests. No need to plan out the guest list, I figured that would be better left up to random chance. We’ll just hang out in the park and see if anybody stops by.
Any financial plan done by a credible professional will obviously include all the important elements. Otherwise, it’s not a plan because it won’t outline a strategy for achieving anything.
The term is aggrandizing and intended to make the advisor look hard working. Far too often, the advisor doesn’t do anything more than just print out a report from eMoney or MoneyGuidePro, charge the client $4,000, and then go golfing.
The phrase should instead be, “Downloaded financial template.”
How would that look on your website?
2. Pension scheme
The finance industry has an abhorrent reputation, and now you are using the word “scheme”? It just sounds sneaky.
Add to the list “financial affairs” and “backdoor Roth.”
Did it ever occur to you that sometimes the language we use as an industry isn’t the most trust-inspiring?
3. Post-pandemic retirement strategy
Other than the fact that the government has moved a step closer to being socialist regime, has retirement changed that much? Gimme a break.
Pre-pandemic:
Don’t overspend in retirement, manage your investments prudently, pay your taxes on time, and plan for a 4% drawdown rate on your portfolio.
Post-pandemic:
Don’t overspend in retirement, manage your investments prudently, pay your taxes on time, and plan for a 4% drawdown rate on your portfolio.
Not sure where we’re venturing into new territory. Do we include debt counseling now?
If your finances were that devastated by the pandemic, you won’t be retiring, in which case no advisor will try to message you over LinkedIn. In that case, the proper phrase would be “non-retirement strategy” anyways.
4. Personal financial advisor
As opposed to what? Canine financial advisor?
Obviously, you are dealing with people.
Adding the word “personal” is so pandering it makes it sound like you’re a butler. As your tagline, you may as well say, “Your financial wish is my command.”
The alternative to “personal” is being an advisor to the finances of an institution. And guess what? The sponsor of the Merck Institutional 401(k) plan doesn’t need to plan out its RMD strategy or send kids to college. That’s why we use the term “portfolio manager”; because you’re usually managing money when you are dealing with an institution.
Unless you are competing with advisors who deal with the finances of other species, leave the word “personal” out of your title.
5. Death benefit
Death…benefit?
It is off-putting to see these two words put together this way.
Me: I need life insurance, so my kids don’t have to eat cat food.
Financial advisor: The death benefit of this policy is $1,000,000! 🙂
Me: Ummm…
Moreover, it doesn’t make sense. There is no benefit to death from the standpoint of the person passing away. To the beneficiary of the policy, yes, the death certainly brings financial rewards to them. But that’s not who you are talking to.
Sheesh, people. Don’t you think the term “death benefit” is just a tiny bit dissonant sounding?
The insurance industry could have done a better job finding a less crass phrase such as “ultimate payment,” “terminal payment,” or “final remuneration,” but unfortunately everyone was busy salivating at the allure of the 8% commission.
Sara’s upshot
Advisors execute the same set of tasks. It’s about how you communicate these tasks that makes the prospect trust you.
Pay closer attention to the words you use if you want to sound better than everyone else in the profession. Based on how nonsensical some the industry’s most popular terms are, it shouldn’t be that hard.
I could talk about this all day long, but my kids won’t go to bed and I’m too annoyed to write more. Thanks for reading, and if you want to learn about how to market the no-nonsense way, join my membership, read my ebook, or schedule a consultation.
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a marketing consultant who helps investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms fight the tendency to scatter meaningless clichés on their prospects and bore them as a result. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor.
Read more articles by Sara Grillo
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
