Page 22 - Ready Set Retire

Stephen J. Kelley

“He told me I looked so young he’d forgotten how old I was,”
she replied, “and we discussed a plan to reallocate my assets
into a much less risky plan.”

Honestly, I was shocked. I had nothing to say to that. I
remember asking what that looked like and being told she was
moving about half her money into bond funds. Still at risk but
with the appearance of safety. I remember she had an edge in
her voice and seemed very defensive almost begging me to
challenge her decision, which I decided not to do.

The lesson I took away is you can’t fix crazy, no matter how
hard you try. The other lesson is people’s financial planners
have enormous and inappropriate amounts of influence over
their client’s financial decisions, which stems from an
imbalance of power.

We have always sought to mitigate this by positioning
ourselves more as coaches. I attended the Coaching Academy
in London, one of the premier coaching schools in the world,
to get a background in the coaching process. Essentially it is
based on drawing people out, and helping them find their own
answers. As coaches, we don’t give advice; we help people see
their circumstances and options more clearly and unblock
them so they can come to their own conclusions. We do this

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