Intro: Royal Standley of Oregon Pacific Financial Advisors offering securities through United Planners Financial Services. Member FINRA, S I P C guides clients with empathy in discovering and reaching their financial goals and creates financial plans for clients so they can live their lives by design. In these episodes, he relates his expert financial insights and discusses timely topics.
Royal strives for excellence and has a passion for sharing his knowledge and supporting. Now on to the show.
Aric Johnson: Hey, Royal, how you been?
Royal Standley: I'm good. How are you doing, Aric?
Aric:I'm fantastic. I'm so excited to get into today's podcast, but you are in a highly regulated industry.
Royal: Yes, I am.
Aric: And because of that, sometimes we have a disclosure that needs to be read, so let's do it.
Royal: All right. Here's the disclosure for today. Discussions in this show are for educational purposes. Information presented should not be considered specific investment advice or a recommendation to take any particular course of action. Always consult with a financial professional regarding your personal situation before making any financial decisions.
The views and opinions express are based on current economic and market conditions and are subject to change. All investing involves risk, including the potential for loss of. Securities offered through United Planners Financial Services member FINRA, S I P C, advisory service offered through Oregon Pacific Financial Advisors, Inc.
Oregon Pacific Financial Advisors and United Planners are independent companies, and neither Oregon Pacific Financial Advisors nor United Planners offers tax or legal advice.
Aric: Okay, now that we've taken our medicine, can we get on with the show?
Royal: Let's go.
Aric: Hello and welcome to Life by Design with Royal Standley of Oregon Pacific Financial Advisors. Royal, how are you?
Royal: I'm doing great, Aric. How are you?
Aric: Fantastic. I'm excited to be back with you. Um, I know we've got a lot to cover today, so we're gonna dive right in. What, what are we talking about?
Royal: Yeah, so in preparation for, uh, getting ready for this podcast, I asked my eight-year-old daughter what I should talk about. Her suggestions were adorable cuz her first thought was kittens.
Aric: Oh.
Royal: And then dogs.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: And then rainbows.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: And I was like, okay, so we could, we could talk about estate planning for pets.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: And then maybe jump into ESG investing, uh, that is pro-climate change reduction So -
Aric: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Royal: Instead of following her suggestions, which were very adorable and she was very proud of herself -
Aric: Yes.
Royal: - For coming up with those, Um, what I thought I would jump into kind of what I, I've been thinking about recently, uh, because we have a few, uh, new advisors who are going through their testing to become financial planners -
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: - is, spend a few minutes to educate our listeners about the Gobbledegook that is out there as far as what the different licenses mean -
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: - for financial planners, financial advisors, as well as all of the alphabet soup when it comes to financial planning, uh, designations.
Aric: Yeah. Okay.
Royal: It's, it's a fascinating world out there. There's so many different ways you can work with clients and choose to work with clients. Uh, but for clients on the outside, it's sometimes difficult to navigate. Okay. How is this person set up? Can they offer me everything that's available? And how best do, uh, we work with them to get the results that they want for their lives?
Aric: Yeah. And, and I'm not, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Royal or, or the listener doesn't, but when a, when an advisor, a financial planner, financial person, I'll say it that way, starts., right? They usually get their basic licenses -
Royal: Mm-hmm.
Aric: - and then they hit the ground running, trying to get as many clients as they possibly can. And it's, it's just not a good thing alot of times when you have a very young advisor who doesn't take the time to get the correct designations, to get the correct licenses, to be able to service a client in all the aspects they need to be serviced. Does that make sense? Am I, am I saying that correctly?
Royal: You are absolutely correct there. Yeah. And we see this all the time just looking at, uh, the attrition rate of new advisors. And, and there's a couple different statistics out there, basically saying that, uh, those advisors who, who get started with that first license, uh, the attrition rate is somewhere, you know, above 80% for most advisors.
Aric: Hmm.
Royal: That they're out of the business within two to five years.
Aric: Yeah. Yeah.
Royal: Because it is so hard of a business to get started in and to build a book of clientele to work with who will pay you, you know, for your advice, for your expertise. It's very hard in a lot of cases to gain that expertise.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Because you just don't have enough people to talk to. So, um, that is a giant challenge in the industry ‘cause there aren't really good training programs out there that will really, I think, uh, help people to get to the point where they, they can actually feel competent, giving good advice to clients.
Aric: Yeah. And, and I'm gonna say this, and it, it sounds probably a little bit self-serving, Audience, to be quite honest, Uh, but I've been working with financial advisors for 10 plus years, uh, as a coach and as a consultant. And I've seen the gamut. And what I, what I see, Royal, is folks that are working with large companies that are just kind of recruited with a herd mentality, they're really looking for salespeople and they're trying to get people in the door that are gonna sell, sell, sell, and gain clients to, to, you know, by selling them anything they possibly can, quite honestly, services or products.
But when you look at an office like yours, and this is where it gets a little self-serving, um, but when you look at an office like yours, when you bring somebody on, there's a built-in mentor, right there -
Royal: Mm-hmm.
Aric: Right?
Royal: Mm-hmm.
Aric: And it's something where you are teaching, you're training and you're showing them how to do it correctly. Um, even if it takes 'em a little while to gather the different licenses, to gather the designations, because they are time- consuming. There's a ton of studying involved. There's tons of things that need to be done to gain these things. But an office like yours, a, a small office, when you have a junior advisor or an associate advisor that comes in, that's where I believe somebody learns the business the correct way.
And I would love to see those numbers. The attrition rate you were talking about. Somebody in an office like yours compared to somebody who's in a large company that is just recruited like cattle.
Royal: Yep. Yep.
Aric: I bet there's a huge difference.
Royal: And, and there, there's a lot of different models out there for bringing on Advisors and, and kind of growing those ranks.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: Uh, some of those fascinating, uh, models out there, and I don't know why in the world anyone would go down this route, uh, knowingly is some of the, the ones where you're a, a financial planner, but you're also a recruiter.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: And you're just trying to recruit your friends to get their life insurance license, to get a basic license and kind of join you in the business. And, uh, I, I don't think that really helps anyone.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: I think, uh, having that high of washout rate, uh, isn't good because for the people that do start working with those people, oftentimes they're not getting good advice. Oftentimes, their uh, their best interests are not being served by somebody who is brand new in the industry and is, is just hungry to make a commission or bring on a client.
And you just wanna be really careful there that you are definitely working with somebody who has proper licenses, but also has the support of the organization behind them and the philosophy that they are gonna put your best interests above their own.
Aric: That's you just defined my first life insurance experience. A buddy of mine got into the business. We won't name the company. It's a. bad company. I will say that is a very poor company. Um, but I didn't know that at the time he got into the business. We bought life insurance through him. A year later he was done actually like six months later, he was done with that company.
It was a 10-year term, and I didn't hear from anybody from that company until six months before my 10-year term expired because they wanted to sell me more insurance. I got nothing from them.
Royal: Right.
Aric: So you just described exactly what I've been and that's where I'm like, this is ridiculous, these companies that do that. So let's talk about something better than that Royal. Let, let's talk about those, those licenses that you're, you're explaining at the beginning.
Royal: Yeah, absolutely. So, we'll, we'll, we'll kind of talk through these. It's gonna be a lot of numbers, so we'll try to simplify this as best as possible.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: So the one that people talk about probably the most, and uh, is one of the most difficult tests out there to, to pass. It's definitely a, a, a major barrier of entry if you're not a good test taker, is the Series Seven. The Series Seven, uh, Administered by FINRA, uh, which is the regulatory agency for, uh, the financial business. Basically that Series Seven allows someone to sell commissionable products. Uh, so it allows them to sell stocks, bonds, UITs, mutual funds, uh, private placements, alternatives.
It really gives 'em a large gamut that they can work with and, and do. Um, you know, I have my series seven, I've had it for close to 20 years now.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: It, it really is an entry point and an education on all the different types of products that are out there. It doesn't necessarily teach you what product is best for a client. That's what, uh, experience and mentorship and education are for. But it gives you the basics of the regulations of how they function.
The Series Six, however, is really a stripped-down version of the Series Seven, and you'll see a lot of people who are really focused just on kind of products versus stocks and bonds have their Series Six. This allows someone to just sell really, uh, mutual funds, uh, almost exclusively under that Series Six.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: Doesn't allow them to do the alternatives, doesn't allow them to do individual stocks and bonds.
Then we get into our advisory licenses where these are the license that allow you to give advice. So oftentimes the Series Six and Seven are paired with the 63 just to provide, uh, a little bit more regulation, uh, around those. And then if you want to give uh, investment advice and charge a fee, that's where you're gonna need either, either a 65, which when it's paired with a 63, it allows you to charge a fee to clients to provide financial planning advice, or to manage assets in a fee-based environment.
So what in the world does fee-based mean? Fee-based means that instead of collecting a commission that is being paid from an insurance company, a mutual fund company, or a brokerage, you're instead charging the client a fee directly to implement, uh, advice or, uh, investments.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: So in that sense, uh, there is a lot more transparency there for folks in a fee-based environment because there's actually a contract between the client and the advisor showing, uh, how much they're being charged. Whereas in a commissional environment, oftentimes there's not as much transparency there.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: Okay. You might also see an advisor with a 66. That is really for people who have a Series Seven and the 66 is a combination of the 63 and 65, so they're almost interchangeable there.
The other types of licenses that you'll see kind of mixed in there and, and most financial advisors have an insurance license of some kind.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Oftentimes that'll be a life insurance or a health insurance or a combination thereof that allows advisors to sell things like, um, life insurance, Long-term care, disability insurance, uh, as well as sell annuities.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Which are a type of life insurance. Um, variable annuities you need to have a Series, uh, Six or Seven and a life insurance license cuz that's a hybrid product that's part security and part life insurance. So we'll often see that sometimes out there as well that just provides, uh, the ability to advise on those products and implement those products.
And then I think the, the other thing that I'll, I'll see quite often is you might have an advisor who, who kind of has a split discipline.
So we have advisors with maybe, uh, other specialties that they're bringing to the table.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Such as we might have advisors who do a lot of medical, Uh, planning. So selling Medicare supplements. You might have an advisor who's also a tax preparer, meaning that they're gonna be preparing taxes for their planning clients and possibly other clients as well. You might have an advisor who also does mortgages or sells real estate. All of these things are, are additional value-ads that you could look for in an advisor, if that's really important to you.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: I have, I have always felt very strongly that your focus should be on, on being good at one thing, really. And so as you bring in other complicated industries, you kind of become a jack-of-all-trades and a master-of-none.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: And that might not always be, uh, in a client's best interest. So, you know, you, you might not want your real estate agent also handling your finances and being pulled away from the markets to go show a home.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: So all, and you know, and I think especially with, uh, tax preparation, tax preparation is really intensive for a few months out of the year.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: So how much attention is being paid to the investment side of the house when it's, you know, March and April?
Aric: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Royal: So I think that's, that's a decision that you need to kind of evaluate as you're looking for an advisor is, is how much is on their plate to really provide you with the best service for what you're hiring them.
And you know, for some folks it, it's really important to, to have one number to call for everything. For others I would say, you know, you kind of want to keep those things separate so you just have more flexibility and you're getting different sets of eyes on different parts of your financial life.
Aric: And, but I wanna clarify something because. You do have one number to call, right?
Royal: Mm-hmm.
Aric: And, and they can get access to all this stuff. Be, excuse me, because you have team members, right? That, that help out in these different areas. Plus you have, um, your network, so
Royal: Right.
Aric: Even if the advisor doesn't have these different things, you've gotta explore the fact that if, if they're connected to a good network and they've been doing this for a long time that they're gonna have people that they can point you to. You know, they, your, your advisor may not be a real estate broker or a real estate agent in any way, shape or form, but if they're good in the business, they're gonna know folks that are, or maybe they have somebody on their team that, that dabbles in that.
Royal: Right. And so we, we wanna be a hub.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: We, we don't really want to be doing everything because I certainly don't want to do, be doing taxes. I had my real estate license very early on in my life. I never want to do that again.
Aric: There's a story behind that. Royal. I know there is, but we won't get into it today. Another podcast.
Royal: Yeah. I, I don't like being a tour guide. I don't like driving before around.
Aric: That makes.
Royal: So, uh, yeah, so, so those are the major license and some of the, those considerations. The other big thing that, that, that happens is there's some terms out there that I think get thrown around and the consumer doesn't necessarily have all the information to understand what these terms mean.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: So for instance, and it really comes down to how is an advisor paid.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: And so this is really the argument between commission-based advisors and fee-based advisors.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: So commission-based advisors are just getting paid for doing a transaction. Okay. Um, oftentimes there isn't that transparency we talked about. Um, we've seen a major shift over the years to more and more advisors, uh, moving to a fee-based environment. The fee-based environment is, there is an actual contract. The client knows exactly how much they're paying for that advice, and the client is paying for that advice directly. So that advisor is stepping into a fiduciary relationship with that client and that client's accounts.
Fee-based is kind of a catchall term that's used.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: There's also fee only, so there's something that's called a dually-registered advisor.
Aric: Okay.
Royal:Meaning that they're, they're registered along two tracks. They're registered as a commissionable advisor as well as a fee-based advisor. And what that means is, is they have the ability to choose: Do they want to sell a client a commissionable product or do they want to charge them on a fee-based type of account? Um, we are dually registered advisors.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: And this creates a conflict of interests and we, we disclose that to our clients and all of our regulatory forms and we talk about it because I think it's really important to be transparent.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: We wanna be dually registered because that allows us to have at our fingertips all the different options that we can look for, for a client. For some clients, it may make sense to pay a commission upfront because they're going to hold something for the long term.
So for instance, if you have, um, you know, a. a, a kid at 18 setting up a Roth IRA that they're just gonna dump money into
Aric: mm-hmm.
Royal: And it's just gonna sit and compound and there's really not a whole lot of active management on that account.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: It might be a lot cheaper just to do that in a commissionable environment and not pay a fee on that. It's much, uh, much cheaper over the long run to do that for a lot of people. When you look at the difference between an upfront commission versus a 1% annual,
Aric: Okay.
Royal: So we wanna have that flexibility to have those conversations with our clients to say, you know, these are the options here. This is what we think makes the most sense there. And we disclose that conflict of interest. Cause I think it's, it's always important to just be fully transparent and to be able to answer the question of how much do you get paid.
Aric: Mm-hmm. So let me ask you a question real quick on that. So would you say that if, if somebody's coming to you and they have a pretty complex situation, um, you know, maybe they own a business, maybe it's something where they own some, uh, multiple rental properties, or they, they have a larger estate, um, they've got a bunch of kids, you know, there's all this stuff, I'm assuming, and, and, and correct me if I'm wrong, that may be a fee-based situation because you've got a lot of moving parts that you are going to have to create a pretty intricate plan for. And so maybe you lean toward the fee-based on that. Where if it's somebody who's just saying, Hey, look, you know, I found you in the phone book, or My buddy told me about you and I'm, I'm interested in a, B or C product
Royal: Mm-hmm.
Aric: That may be something where it's gonna be the, the a quick commission because it's not something where it's gonna be an ongoing relationship.
Royal: Right. So we have, we have clients who, who just say, Hey, I'm, I'm gonna buy this stock. I'm gonna hold it forever.
Aric: Okay.
Royal: You know, we had a local company go public. There was a lot of interest in it, and we had a lot of clients just say, okay, I just wanna buy stock in that company.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: And then, and then hold it. And just sit on it. Well, that's a perfect environment to sell something with a commission.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Because the client pays that commission upfront and then isn't charged a fee from us for monitoring one stock that they don't plan on selling.
Aric: Got it. Yeah, that makes sense.
Royal: Yeah. So that just, that just gives us that flexibility to do that and have that conversation with those. Okay. But yes, in in, in a complex situation, we're probably charging an advisory fee to look over all those areas of a client's. As well as manage their investments there.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: And especially I would say as things get more complicated, and especially as you get close to retirement, in a lot of cases, that fee-based environment just makes more sense.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: Because it provides more flexibility of moving money around, changing strategies, making adjustments to strategies and that sort of thing.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: So there are advisors out there that do not charge a, uh, do not charge commissions at all. Those are called fee-only advisor. , uh, fee-only advisors oftentimes don't have a life insurance license, so they're not receiving commission from a life insurance company or doing annuities. Um, that is absolutely a valid way of providing advice to folks.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: The challenge there is, is you are limited, if you're making recommendations, you have to refer them to a third party to, to do those things.
Aric: Got it.
Royal: Um, you also have the issue of, you know, can we do everything that, that we're, we're trying to implement?
There's also hourly advisors who do not manage assets, but simply provide advice on an hourly basis.
Aric: Hmm.
Royal: Um, we're seeing more and more of those pop up, but probably not at the speed that we need to see those. For a lot of our clients, they're not necessarily looking for hourly management.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: um, just from the standpoint of managing investments and managing the taxes that those investments can throw out can get really challenging really quickly.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: And a lot of our clients would rather just pay someone to do that.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: Versus trying to figure it out, out themselves.
Aric: Yeah, that makes sense.
Royal: So the other big part of all this is, , what education did an advisor get after they got licensed, after they passed? Kind of that barrier of entry of I got my Seven, I got my 66 or my 63 and 65. I'm licensed, but I'm super dangerous. I have no idea what I'm doing.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: You know, what education did they go through to really expand their knowledge base to be able to provide advice?
Now part of that is really working in a good office where you get a lot of support and a lot of mentorship. I was very, very lucky to join Oregon Pacific Financial Advisors, uh, in 2006 and have a fantastic mentor who spent a lot of time with me, really going over the strategies he was implementing with his clients, looking over the things that I was recommending to my clients, uh, helping me understand, okay, you recommended this - What about these things over here?
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Did you consider this? Did you look at this? Because oftentimes, you know, we see advisors all the time where they get comfortable with one thing and that's all they do.
Aric: Mm. Yeah.
Royal: You know?
Aric: Yep.
Royal: When, when, you know, uh, and we, we see this oftentimes with, uh, with annuities, for instance, um, or certain mutual fund families. That's all I do. I just focus on that and, and that's all I do.
And that might work, but it's very limiting and that there's a question of are you acting your client's best interest? If, yeah, the only product you're reaching for off the shelf is the same one for every client.
Aric: Yeah. What, what do they say? If you, all you have is a hammer, everything becomes a nail.
Royal: Exactly.
Aric: Something like that.
Royal: Yeah.
Aric: That's a, it's not a good way to look at it.
Royal: No, no. We, we, we've seen, uh, we've seen clients who work with an advisor who did that, and it's really that question of, well, why, why do you own this? And they're like -
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: I don't, I don't know. I was just told this was the right way to go and as an advisor, you're looking at it going, this is even close to what you need.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: And that's, that's a big challenge there.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: The, the educational piece I think is really, really important, and that's where we get the gobbly gook of the alphabet soup behind our names.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: So right now I have a ridiculous amount of letters behind my name. I don't even know what they all mean. I just started writing them and threw 'em on there.
[laughter]
Royal: But, uh, seriously, you know, the, the two biggest designations from an educational standpoint, um, I would kind of consider these, the bachelor degrees of financial planning.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: The first is the Certified Financial Planner (CFP.) That's the most well-known one. Um, you know, it's about, uh, I believe seven different, uh, areas of study, with a big test at the end. Usually takes a year or so to go through all that if you're diligent with it.
The other, and, and what I have, is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), which is actually a little bit more education than the CFP, a couple more modules and electives
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Um, they just don't have a big test at the end. So for me, uh, you know, as, as somebody who doesn't want to take a three-day test, uh, that, that was a better solution.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: As I was going through it, because, where my heart was, was where can I get the best education? To learn how to do this, uh, and that was really the ChFC because of the, the, those extra electives that you're required to take.
Aric: Yeah. So I wanna jump in real quick because, um, for the listener there, there is a great website called Investopedia, and that's kind of where you can go look up different terms, different things so you can understand some of the lingo within the, the industry.
And so I've got pulled up right now in Investopedia and I looked up, um, ChFC and that's the designation that Royal has and what we was just talking about.
And it says right here, the ChFC degree program requires students to complete nine college level courses. That's a lot . So, I mean, this is not anything to shake a stick at. This is, this is a lot of study, uh, you know, a lot of time invested into this education. Plus there's ongoing education that is required.
Royal: Mm-hmm.
Aric: So you can read more about that on Investopedia. But if you want to find out what these different designations mean, um, and what it takes to get 'em. , you're gonna find that information there.
Royal: Yeah. Yeah. And that, I think that's an, that's an easy way for the consumer to find someone with that education.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Look for someone with some of those designations, ask them about it, and, and also ask them, what are you doing to stay, stay current on new rules and regulations.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: Um, you know, are you attending different seminars on different topics? Are there other advanced degrees that you have that give you a specialty in a certain area?
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Um, you know, my, my other designations, uh, Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) and then Certified Retirement Plan Specialist (CRPS), which really gives us a great base in the, um, ERISA retirement plan space of how to provide advice to 401ks and 403b plans.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: So all of those things I think are things that the consumer wants to be looking at and evaluating, uh, when they're choosing their uh, financial planner that they wanna work with.
Now, we kind of talked about the education. How do advisors get paid and, and what products can they offer to their clients? So how big of a toolbox do you have?
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: But honestly, I think the, the biggest thing when you're looking for a financial planner is trust. How comfortable do you feel with this person? You know, you wanna balance that with the education piece and the competency piece, but really I think, you know, the things you should be evaluating when hiring a financial planner is what, what does that personality fit feel like?
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: you know, is this somebody that you want to be talking to on a regular basis about what your plans are?
What do you want to do with your life? What are your fears?
Um, you know, I think the other big part when you're looking at hiring a financial advisor is where does the planning come in? You know, I talked to a lot of folks who have worked with financial advisors in the past, and it's really all the conversations were about the investment portfolio and how good they did or how bad they did or, or some sort of conversation there.
Whereas, you know, with what we do, our focus is really on the planning side, and then we'll come back to the investments. That's part of the overall plan.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: But not the only part of the plan.
Aric: Yeah.
Royal: The other part is, is you know, what life experience is this financial planner bringing to the table? You know, what have they done? What's their background? You know, are, are they similar to the way you look at the world? You know, sometimes you, you, you like a little conflict there just to kind of expand the way you look at things.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: But you want somebody that, that you feel comfortable with, you know, and I think there's, um, a lot of questions you should be asking, um, uh, a financial planner or a financial advisor, you know, for instance, how long have you been in the business. Do you like what you do? What's your philosophy when it comes to planning, to investments, to working with clients? Um, and then also, I mean, it's, it's really simple just to go onto the broker check website that's run by FINRA.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: To just see. From a regulatory standpoint, are there any issues? How, how long have they been in the business? Uh, or just Google their names just to see, you know, uh, is there any information out there about them? You know, kind of those basic things that, uh, we, we think about, you know, as we're looking to hire them, what are other people saying?
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: And that's why so many of our clients get referred in is a lot of people just don't know who to talk to or who to trust, so they talk to their friends, they talk to people they respect, and oftentimes that that's another great way of meeting a financial advisor. And then you can evaluate them for yourself on, is this a good fit for, for my situation and where I'm looking to go.
Aric: Yes. And, and I'm gonna add one more thing, Royal, because I've seen this time and time again, and you can attest to this. Um, ladies, if you're married and as a couple, you go in, check out how the, the advisor is engaging you specifically. Are they asking all the questions of your husband? Are they asking all the questions towards one person in the relationship period? Are they answering the questions that you have? Um, there are a lot of advisors out there that just, they feel more comfortable with men. So they talk to the men, or they, they think, oh, the men, you know, run the show. So they, they focus on them if they're not focusing on both of you equally - get out of the office. I'm, I'm, I'm gonna tell you right now, it's not going to be a good fit. The reason I say that is because we all know the statistics, men die sooner than women.
And, uh, if, if your husband passes and you're stuck with that same advisor who really wasn't giving you the attention that you deserve, it's not gonna be a good relationship from there on out either. So that, that's just my, my thought. Royal.
Royal: Yeah. And the statistics back that up because I think the vast majority of women, uh, fire their old financial advisor and find someone else after a spouse dies.
Aric: Correct. For that very reason. Absolutely.
Royal: Yeah. Because, because that advisor never spent any time getting to know them and what's important to them.
Aric: Yep.
Royal: And you know, I think that'll change as, as we become, uh, much more enlightened in this industry,
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: Uh, and in the world. And, but it's, it's definitely an issue. It's definitely an issue. And that's, that's really where I think the importance of planning comes in. Because if you're approaching things from planning, you're talking to both spouses about what's important to them.
Aric: Absolutely, absolutely.
Royal: And the, the fascinating thing there is, I would say it is pretty evenly split, you know, my clients who, um, You know, are the ones that are worried about the investments or understand the investments between men and women. There's plenty of men out there who, who just have no concept of what's going on, and they, they rely on their spouse to kind of make those decisions and keep 'em on the straight and narrow.
Aric: Yeah, absolutely. So, all right, great stuff today. Any closing thoughts for today's podcast? Besides your contact info, ‘cause want that.
Royal: Yeah. Um, you know, I would say it's a big decision to, to hire a financial, uh, planner.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: You know, it's okay to talk to a few and kind of feel around and see where your comfort level is and, you know, if things aren't working out the way you thought it would, have that conversation, have that conversation or find somebody who, who's a better fit there for you.
Um, you know, I think that's an important thing to, to say, you know, not all relationships are forever.
Aric: Mm-hmm.
Royal: You know, we would like them to be, that's, that's our goal going into this. But we all understand that situations change and, and maybe what worked, uh, initially isn't working now, so have those conversations because it's your life, it's your money. You get to decide on what's best for you.
Aric: It's your business and you're hiring somebody, right? I mean, this is
Royal: Mm-hmm.
Aric: You're, you're, this is an interview. They need to interview the advisor, um, as though they're trying to get a job, which that's exactly what the advisor's trying to do. They're trying to get a job, uh, the job of managing your finances or helping you plan, um, go into the, you know, into the conversation like that.
And if they blow the interview, don't hire 'em. , right? Sorry.
Royal: That's just it. That's just it.
Aric: All right. How do they get ahold of you, Royal.
Royal: Yeah, visit our website at uh, opfa.com. You can schedule an appointment right there on the website. You can also call our office at (541) 772-1116.
Aric: All right, fantastic. Royal. Again, thank you so much.
This has been a great podcast today.
Royal: Wonderful. Thanks so much, Aric.
Aric: You bet. And our last thank you goes to your listening audience. Thank you so much for tuning in and listening to Life by Design podcast with Royal Standley. If you have not subscribed to the podcast yet, please click the subscribe now button below. This way, when Royal comes out with a new podcast, it'll show up directly on your listening device, and we humbly ask that you share this podcast, rate it, and leave review as this actually does help others find the show. Again, thank you so much for listening today. For everyone at Oregon Pacific Financial Advisors, this is Aric Johnson reminding you to live your best day every day, and we'll see you next time.
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