Practical Wisdom from ACP Financial Advisors Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP)

A lot of the financial planning industry focuses on investments because of their “something-for-nothing” feeling. But how do you advise clients on the whole of their financial lives? Our guest, Sheila Padden, CPA, CFP®, RLP®, founder of Padden Financial Planning and ACP Immediate Past President, discusses what it takes to deliver a complete financial plan and why it’s important to look beyond investments alone.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Sheila Padden, please visit www.PaddenFinancial.com

Recorded on location at ACP's Annual Conference held September 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this special episode is a collage of ideas from a sampling of ACP financial planners. Advisors were asked to provide their top tips, tools, and words of wisdom when it comes to running and managing an independent advisory firm. Ten members are featured here, offering thoughts on industry organizations, methodologies, visualization methods, profiles, niching, outsourcing, systemization, automation, fintech solutions and softwares, and more.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org.

ACP members featured in this episode:
Sheila Padden, CPA, CFP®, RLP®, Founder of Padden Financial Planning
Cordi Powell, CFP®, EA, Founder of Favored Financial Planning
Bridget Sullivan Mermel, CFP®, CPA, Founder of Sullivan Mermel, Inc.
John Scherer, CFP®, Founder of Trinity Financial Planning
Kelly Adams, CFP®, RLP®, EA, Founder of Harbor Light Planning
Rorik Larson, MBA, CFP®, EA, Founder of Essential Financial Strategies
Brian Leben, CFP®, PFS, CPA, MBA, CGMA, Owner of Midwest Wealth Solutions
Wendy Marsden, CFP®, CPA, Founder of ProsperiTea Planning
Zach Teutsch, Founder of Values Added Financial
Hannah Basil Bryant, CFP®, Financial Advisor at Savant Wealth Management

As our financial planning practices grow, we sometimes find ourselves stuck on plateaus, facing problems that can’t be solved by working harder. How do we make progress when the tools we’ve used up til now won’t get us to our next professional goal? The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) could provide the answer. Our guests, Al Davis, CFP®, EA, founder of Davis Financial Planning, and Adrianne Gordon, CEO & Partner, discuss how they use EOS to navigate the continued growth of their firm.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Al Davis and Adrianne Gordon, please visit www.DavisFinancialPlanning.com

One of the challenges of fiduciary financial planning is how to best communicate with clients. You'd like your clients to tell you more about their financial lives, but they might be afraid of wasting your time if they think of you as just a professional specialist. You also want them to understand your own confidence and professional advice, but without their eyes glazing over from jargon. How can you talk with your clients in a way that helps you provide the greatest value? Our guest, Chip Simon, CFP®, Founder of Taconic Advisors, discusses how to talk with your clients so they, and you, will be confident that you’re heading in the right direction.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Chip Simon, please visit www.TaconicAdvisors.com

AUM model, commissions, hourly fee, flat fee, retainer model... there are so many ways that financial advisors charge for their services these days that it's sometimes very confusing for consumers and hard to know which will serve them best. The same can be said for advisors themselves - which model is going to allow your business to thrive and serve clients to the fullest? Our guest, Jake Kuebler, CFP®, EA, Owner and Managing Partner of Bluestem Financial Advisors, explains the benefits of the retainer model and why it's often the best choice for advisors and their clients.

Jake is the co-author (along with host Ken Robinson) of the whitepaper 'The Financial Planners' Retainer: A Reflection of Real Value' (https://www.acplanners.org/consumer/media/retainer-model).

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org. To learn more about Jake Kuebler, please visit www.BluestemFA.com

Recorded on location at ACP's Annual Conference held October 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia, this special episode is a collage of ideas from a sampling of ACP financial planners. Advisors were asked to discuss a challenge faced during the pandemic and how they successfully moved through and resolved the issue, or the top lesson they learned for running a successful advisory practice during the pandemic. Ten members are featured here, offering thoughts on virtual client communications, working remotely, volatile markets, mindfulness, self-care, industry organizations, helpful software and fintech solutions, recruiting solutions, and more.

To learn more about the ACP, please visit www.ACPlanners.org.

ACP members featured in this episode:
Frankie Corrado, CFP®, RLP®, Managing Director, Principal at Robertson Stephens;
Sheila Padden, CPA, CFP®, RLP®, Founder of Padden Financial Planning;
Linda Leitz, CFP®, EA, President of Peace of Mind Financial Planning;
Dani Parris-Exline, AFC®, Financial Advisor at Peace of Mind Financial Planning;
Jane Young, CFP®, EA, President of More Than Your Money, Inc.;
Kelly Adams, CFP®, RLP®, EA, Founder of Harbor Light Planning;
Mike Stanton, CFP®, Principal of Stanton Financial Planning;
Ross Schmidt, President of Aspen Wealth Planners;
Anabel Diaz, CFP®, Financial Associate at Natural Bridges Financial Advisors;
Bert Whitehead, MBA, JD, Founder of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners;
Ken Robinson, CFP®, JD, Founder of Practical Financial Planning