By Brendan Frazier
Four years ago, I launched The Human Side of Money podcast with one mission: to equip Financial Advisors with the tools they need to master the human side of advice.
I’ve now recorded 125+ episodes with leading experts, industry icons, top Independent RIAs, and more—some of the brightest minds in behavior, psychology, communication, and money.
After 125 episodes, I’ve consolidated countless hours of information into ten insights every Advisor should know to master the human side of advice, enhance their clients’ lives, and change the trajectory of their business.
Top 10 Ideas & Insights Every Advisor Needs to Know to Master the Human Side of Advice
1. Goals Shift, Values Persist
Goals-based planning, goals-based wealth management, values-based planning…pick whatever name you want. But know this:
If you work with people and their money—whether to fund their present or future—it’s crucial to understand the dynamic between goals and values.
Here’s a visual to explain, courtesy of my friend and former podcast guest, Jeremy Walter:
Here’s a simple financial planning example:
| VALUE | GOAL | HABIT |
| Spending Time With Family | Building a Deck to Host Family Gatherings | Saving $500/month |
2. Asking Great Questions Is a Superpower
Name something else that:
- Increases likeability
- Builds trust
- Elicits sensitive and valuable information about a person
Asking great questions can have a more meaningful impact on your clients than simply discussing their investments.
And while everyone wants to know what questions to ask, it’s how you ask them that elevates conversations and strengthens relationships.
3. From the Clouds to the Street
Morningstar’s research reveals a direct link between savings behavior and your mental time horizon:
The more vivid and clear your future visualization is, the more likely you are to change your behavior.
However, other research has shown we see our future selves as nothing more than strangers.
As you’re working with clients and planning for their future selves, you must bring their future “goals” down from the clouds to the street—from vague to vivid.
Here’s an example:
- Vague: “I want to spend time with family.”
- Vivid: “I want to take my entire family to Disney World twice yearly, stay at the Swan and Dolphin Hotel, visit all four parks at least once, and have game nights with the kids after the grandkids are in bed.”
4. Mirroring Their Words
The brain loves hearing its own words repeated back.
In fact, waiters and waitresses who repeat back their customers’ exact orders see their tip increase by 70% compared to those who simply acknowledge or praise the customers’ orders.
The takeaway? People feel heard when you use their own language.
Listen carefully and document the exact words clients use.
It’s not “retirement.”
It’s “sitting on the beach with my feet in the sand.”
5. The Discovery Meeting Recap Email
This one might have been the biggest surprise of all because it seems so simple.
After a discovery meeting, send a recap email—within 24 hours—that captures, in their words:
- Values, goals, memories, and concerns
- What they’re looking for in an Advisor
- Clear next steps
You’ll actually get emails back. And not just any email—emails with phrases like:
“You get me,” or “You understand me.”
6. The Two Skills of Great Communicators
The greatest communicators rely on two powerful tools—stories and analogies.
Stories and analogies possess the rare ability to:
- Simplify complex topics
- Bypass logic and trigger emotion
- Inspire action
For example, sharing a story with a 62-year-old widow about helping other widows in similar situations is far more effective than rattling off your services. It makes the support real and relatable.
And explaining how financial planning is like a GPS can help to translate a complex explanation into something relatable.
(The GPS Analogy roughly explained: Your GPS starts by identifying where you want to go. Then, it takes into account where you are and starts analyzing the best route to get you there. It will tell you step by step how to get from Point A to Point B. But it doesn’t stop there—it’s continually monitoring as you go to help you prepare and adjust for any traffic jams, road closures, detours, etc.).
7. From “Advice-Giver” to “Thinking Partner”
The relationship dynamic between Advisors and clients is shifting away from simply treating the “problem” and more toward treating the “person.”
In the old model, Advisors were “advice-givers” focused on treating the problem by dispensing advice. It went like this:
Diagnose → Prescribe
The Advisor diagnoses the situation and prescribes the solution, and the clients are expected to follow the advice.
In the new model, Advisors act as “thinking partners.” It goes like this:
Diagnose → Discuss → Decide
The Advisor and client work collaboratively to diagnose the situation, discuss potential options, and decide on the solution together.
The client is the hero of their story.
The Advisor is a thinking partner, a guide, a facilitator, a collaborator, and a problem-solver. This shift builds trust and empowers clients to actively shape their financial journey.
8. The Overlooked Influence of Money Memories
Financial advice often revolves around two points in life:
- Where you are today (present)
- Where you want to be (future)
Yet a client’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors driving their financial decisions are derived from one area not listed here: the past.
For example, take a client whose dad showered her with lavish gifts to demonstrate his love. It subconsciously imprints this belief in your client’s mind: “I need nice things to validate my self-worth.”
That underlying belief helps to explain why she has no income left over to contribute to her kid’s education and, thus, hasn’t followed your advice to start funding a 529 plan.
A belief formed in the past influenced her decision-making in the present, which jeopardized her goals for the future.
The best financial guidance focuses on the past, present, and future.
9. Design for the Plan. Optimize for the Person.
One of the biggest challenges in advising is a lack of follow-through or implementation.
One study found that 70% of clients implement less than 20% of recommendations.
To this day, one of my all-time favorite quotes from The Human Side of Money podcast came from Advisor Natalie Taylor in Episode 33.
She said she doesn’t encounter problems with implementation. Naturally, I asked her for her secret sauce.
Here’s what she said:
“I’d rather give advice that gets 80%-90% of the results with 50% lift on their end than advice that’s 100% optimal but never gets implemented.”
Advice designed strictly for the plan might require saving $985/month for retirement without considering whether that’s realistic for the client.
Advice optimized for the person, however, is achievable—like saving $725/month because that’s what the client feels is doable.
Aim to optimize your advice for the client, and you’ll likely see implementation challenges start to fade.
10. A Crucial Skill in Financial Advice
One skill that will directly impact your and your client’s success more than anything else is the ability to listen.
More specifically, the ability to listen with curiosity and empathy.
If you have a great listener in your life, then this is no surprise.
Here are a few things to think about:
- The number one predictor of client satisfaction in the first meeting is the amount of airtime they get (not how impressed they are with your experience, service model, or financial wizardry).
- Studies show that getting someone to talk about themselves lights up the same area of the brain as eating chocolate and sexual activity (the reward center).
- Brain scans have revealed that people’s brains sync up and connect when engaged in a conversation where they’re truly present and listening.
Truly listening is the most powerful tool you have to transform prospects into lifelong clients.
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Over the last four years and 125+ episodes with the brightest minds in the industry, one thing has become glaringly obvious…
The future of financial advice is shifting toward the intersection of technical knowledge and the human side of money.
It’s no longer enough to simply construct a financial plan and build an investment portfolio.
Being a Financial Advisor requires the ability to build trust, make connections, unearth values, and connect emotions to money—while ultimately helping change behavior for the better.
