Do You Think You’re an “A” List, Whale, Big Fish, Top-Tier Client to Your Advisor with the Amount of Funds You Have with Them Now?
Over the years, I have found many disturbing articles, printouts, instruction letters, YouTube videos advising brokers, variable agents, and money managers to prioritize calls to their clients based on the amount of money someone has with them.
Here are some of the most disturbing things I have heard over the years about how these so-called “brokers, advisors, and money managers” have been advised to prioritize their calls. They call their “A” list, Whale, Big Fish, Top-Tier Clients (important people) first when the market drops or is unstable and don’t worry about their little fish or bottom feeders (unimportant people), placing them at the bottom of their call list.
• Call your “A” clients first to let them know you are aware of the market volatility and are watching their accounts closely to maintain your relationship with them.
• If a client does not have $500,000 or more to invest, then don’t bother calling them; they are a waste of your time.
• Call the Big Fish first; they will cause the biggest ripples if you upset them.
• Maintain your Top-Tier clients first because most of your income depends on them.
I find this very disturbing! Over the many years I have been helping thousands of clients retire, I have found one thing to be true: the smaller the amount of money someone has, the greater the impact a significant loss is on them.
Example: If you have $10,000,000 and you lose 50%, you still have $5,000,000. If you have $300,000 and you lose 50%, you only have $150,000 left. This is huge and makes it even worse if you are trying to draw income for life.
Here are some other things I have heard about who they should help and how they should treat clients.
• Pick your top list of clients and invite them to special events you put on.
• Never spend too much time on a client with less than $500,000 to invest.
• When they have less money to manage, charge them a higher fee.
• We will only help clients with $500,000 or more to invest.
Seven Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Broker, Banker, or Financial Planner:
(Even though you ask these questions, I know they will only give you the answer they think you will want to hear.)
1. How far down the call list am I?
2. Will they even get to me in time before I lose a bunch of money in a market decline?
3. Why would someone base my value or importance on the amount of money I have with them?
4. If losing 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50% of my money is a huge deal to me, why would it not be important to them?
5. Do I get charged a higher fee because I have less money to invest?
6. Do I have fewer investment options because I do not have a hefty sum of money to invest?
7. Do I want to risk my money in the market even if I am important to them?
Do not let anyone assume your value based on your net worth. It is a slap in the face for anyone to do this. Your money is important to you, so it should be important to anyone who is helping you with your Safe Money and Lifetime Income.
Questions to ask yourself:
Do I think my broker will call me first when the market collapses, or will they attend to someone who has more money?
Do I like it that they will assume my value based on how much money I have with them?
Do they manage my smaller accounts or are they put on autopilot trading by a computer?
Have they warned me at the top of the market, advising me to protect my gains, or do they have the “let it ride” mentality so I don’t waste their time?
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