Get 2025 Off on the Right Foot
“There are two kinds of companies, those that work to try to charge more and those that work to charge less. We will be the second.” – Jeff Bezos (by way of Jim Sinegal)
By John H. Robinson, Founder/Financial Planner (February 2025)
Since I assume most Financial Planning Hawaii clients have not hired me for my boyish good looks and iconic fashion sense, it is imperative that I, with the help of our amazing, passionate team of Alicia, Sue, and Emily, deliver tangible ongoing value. The goal of this year’s state-of-the-firm address is to help you get the New Year off on the right foot by raising awareness of the different resources and services we make available to help you get the most for your money.
Your Financial Plan Begins and Ends With eMoney
Last month, I was asked to write an article for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about the best personal finance software to help people organize their finances. A couple of local clients who read the article asked why I did not mention eMoney in the article. The reason for the omission is that eMoney is only available through financial professionals. If I were to have included it in my review, I would have explained that the functionality and user experience of eMoney is head and shoulders above all DIY personal finance software.
We provide eMoney to all clients of Financial Planning Hawaii and Fee-Only Planning Hawaii as a tool for centralizing and organizing all elements of their financial lives. It is the foundation for every financial planning review I conduct and it is a powerful tool for helping you monitor and maintain your financial plan over time. It is a tangible representation of the value of hiring us, but a major value proposition that is often overlooked or forgotten is that it is also a critical tool to enable your successors to step in to manage your affairs if you are incapacitated and/or to settle your estate upon your passing.
Think about it - How difficult would it be for your successors to figure out your financial life without eMoney? How much would fall through the cracks? I can think of no better New Year’s resolution than to update your documents in the eMoney Vault and to review and update your account connections.
The Content I Create is How I Keep You Informed and Convey Important Concepts
When I tell new clients that our newsletter (and blog) is a critical element of our value proposition and that it is the primary tool I use to help educate them about planning concepts and to keep clients informed about important rule changes, I am well aware of the barriers to overcome – most investment/financial planning newsletters are generic and/or arcane, and most people do not like to read long text.
These days, I try to nip preconceptions in the bud. I tell every new client there is a reason why the average investment/financial planning newsletter has a 20% open rate while FPI typically has an open rate of 75%-85%. To help increase engagement, the newsletter presents each article with a catchy title and an extremely brief summary to make it easy for people to quickly determine whether the article is relevant and merits a click to “READ MORE.”
The newsletter is the fastest, most efficient way for me to convey timely, relevant information to our clients. Nonetheless, I regularly receive calls and emails from clients asking me about specific concepts that I have addressed in the newsletter. In my mind, these people are leaving chips on the table by not taking advantage of a service I am already providing. Of course, preaching about the value of reading the newsletter in the Editor’s Notes section of the newsletter to clients who are pre-disposed to not opening the newsletter from their Inboxes is not likely a winning strategy.
Almost every week, I receive a call or email from a client asking for my perspective on one timely topic or another. My typical response is to send links to articles I have already written on those topics and to encourage them to skim my newsletter when it arrives. I also mention that all content I share in the newsletter is permanently archived on the FPH and Fee-Ony Planning Hawaii blogs. This is not at all intended to suggest that you should not contact me directly, but rather that reading the content I have already written on the subject that is of interest to you may allow you to develop a more informed framework for our discussion.
Let’s Meet! There Is No Limit to The Number of Times We May Meet or Speak.
Occasionally, I will receive a call from a client that begins with something like, “I haven’t heard from you in a while, so I thought I would check in.” The subtle implication is that I have dropped the ball in my service model. Whenever I hear this, I feel like I have failed to properly explain how we deliver value. To be clear, I do not have any proactive outreach system. Do not wait by the phone for me to call for a checkup!
A few of years ago, I wrote an article titled, “I Am Not Your Dentist.” The reason why you need to see your dentist every six months does not apply to financial planning. Conversely, unless you have a problem with a tooth, your dentist probably does not want or need to see you more than two times per year.
Our service model is completely different. First, please understand that you hear from me ALL THE TIME through the Financial Planning Insights Newsletter. You also hear from me or my staff whenever there is an event such as a maturing CD, an RMD, an issue with a security, etc. In terms of direct communication with me, YOU HAVE UNLIMITED ACCESS! We have some clients with whom we speak almost weekly. We have others who might feel like we are pestering them if we communicate more than once or twice per year. The bottom line is that I am happy to speak/meet with you as often or as infrequently as you like, but the onus is on you to initiate the meeting. The best way to do that is to go to the APPOINTMENT link on the FPH website and book a date/time that works for you. Here is the LINK TO MY CALENDAR
There is No “I” in TEAM. FPH Has an Amazing Team That is Eager to Help You!
For most of Financial Planning Hawaii’s existence, the FPH Team consisted of just me and Alicia with Itaat and me covering for each other. The addition of Sue in 2023 and Emily in 2024 has significantly improved our ability to deliver great service. As a CFP with 25+ years of financial planning experience, Sue quickly assimilated into the FPH practice model. If I am the captain of the ship, Sue is the First Mate. Her primary daily tasks are making sure client cash deposits and proceeds from sales/maturing securities are earning interest and assisting clients with eMoney.
Clients are encouraged to contact Sue for any issues you may have with eMoney including refresher tutorials, but you may also contact her with other portfolio-related questions as well. Sue and I communicate every day, and we are usually on the same page. Here is a link to Sue’s appointment booking page - https://outlook.office365.com/book/FinancialPlanningHawaiiSue@fphawaii.com/
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You probably will have much less direct communication with Emily. She joined the FPH Team last year to relieve much of the back-office administration burden from Alicia. Emily is taking the lead in directing the re-papering of accounts as we migrate clients from Fidelity NFS to Fidelity IWS over the next several months. This frees up Alicia to spend more of her time communicating directly with you.
As our long-time clients know, Alicia plays a critical role in making sure our clients are happy. Her official title is “Chief Congeniality Specialist.” She does an amazing job of fostering the familial culture that is essential for establishing and maintaining multi-generational client relationships. While she still handles most of the administration relating to daily transaction activity, such as processing retirement distributions, wire transfers, and ACH requests, much of her time is also spent just checking in on folks. Her cheerful disposition and infectious positivity are why she is usually the person who answers the phone whenever you call.
Summary – We Want You to Feel Like You Are Getting Great Ongoing Value for the Financial Planning Fee You Pay
The purpose of this essay has been to articulate the tangible ways in which we deliver customized comprehensive financial planning guidance to you so that you may optimize the value you get for your money. The underlying theme is that we strive to deliver better service and guidance than other advisory firms, but it is also up to you to use the tools and resources we provide to realize that value.
In addition to these tangible measures, there are also many intangible elements relating to our corporate values and pricing models that serve to differentiate Financial Planning Hawaii and Fee-Only Planning Hawaii in a competitive market space. For more on this I encourage you to also read my recent post, “If Costco and Hermes had a Baby.”
John “J.R.” Robinson is the owner/founder of Financial Planning Hawaii and Fee-Only Planning Hawaii and is a co-founder of personal finance software maker Nest Egg Guru.
