Written by: Corey Janoff
This post was originally published on our previous blog website on July 11, 2017 and has since not been revised and/or updated.
The year is 2017. You do all of your banking from your computer and cell phone, transferring money between accounts and paying bills without ever stepping inside a banking branch or opening a checkbook. You purchase almost everything except groceries from the same devices (and some of you even order those online). Many of you can do your jobs from anywhere that has a Wi-Fi connection. And you also seek out most of your professional advising services from the comfort of your home, or without ever leaving your office during the workday.
Trying to explain these concepts to your parents or grandparents when they were your age would have been an impossible task. Technology has enabled to accomplish so many things in one day today that would have required you to clear your schedule for an entire week about 20 years ago.
The days of meeting in-person with your accountant, attorney, financial advisor, and sometimes even your doctor are becoming a thing of the past. For the same reason the convenience of shopping online is putting shopping malls out of business, meeting with trusted professionals online is making the need to meet in an office archaic. With an abundant selection of video conferencing and computer screen sharing technologies, you can still meet “face-to-face”. The only thing missing is the handshake at the end (which some of you were never fond of to begin with!).
Being that this is a financial planning blog and I am a financial advisor, we will focus on that specific relationship in this post.
Time is Money
Your time is valuable. You will do what you can to improve efficiency and productivity at work, so you can earn more money. This also means you will try to improve efficiency and productivity on necessary tasks outside of work, so you can spend your time where you value it most.
Being able to meet with a financial advisor without having to travel to his or her office is extremely convenient. Now, instead of blocking off two to three hours for an appointment to factor in travel time, you only need to carve out an hour. You can accomplish your investment check-up and review your financial goals during your lunch break. Or get it done before you head in to work in the morning, or before/after you head home at the end of the day.
No more fighting traffic or finding parking. You don’t even have to get dressed! I have had client meetings on multiple occasions where the clients said they don’t want to do the webcam today because they aren’t wearing any clothes! You need to be comfortable to talk about your finances and what’s more comfortable than sitting on the couch in your underwear?
I have a good number of local clients and I can probably count on two hands the ones that actually come into the office anymore for meetings. Initially they will usually start by meeting at my office to put a name to a face and see proof that I exist. But after meeting a couple of times in person, they often prefer to do online meetings out of convenience.
No More Babysitters
This is a big plus with clients that have young children. When you have kids, everything you do revolves around them in some way, shape, or form. You can bring the kids with you to the meeting and silently pray on the drive in that they don’t embarrass you too much. You could plan the meeting with your financial advisor during the time when your kids are in school, if you have school-age children – which means you need to be able to meet during normal business hours. Or you can leave the kids at home and get a babysitter.
Many people want to make the most of their precious time when reviewing their finances and would prefer to do it without distractions or interruptions. If you have young children, it can be difficult to plan a meeting that works for your schedule, your financial advisor’s schedule, and the babysitter’s schedule (and the kids schedule if they have sports or activities going on).
I have a lot of clients that I meet with online that will schedule meetings for after the kids are in bed, or put the kids in another room with their favorite movie. This way, they are at home in case of emergency and they can bust out a financial review conveniently and efficiently.
Moving Isn’t an Issue
Back in the day, if you moved to a new city, it meant you needed to find a whole new set of professionals to work with. Even if you moved across town you often had to establish new relationships. Not the case anymore. If you are able to meet with your financial advisor online, as long as you move somewhere that has a phone and internet connection, you’re still in business!
Some of the professionals we connect with are initially hesitant about establishing a relationship with a financial advisor, because they plan to move elsewhere within a couple of years. Once they learn they can still work with us wherever they move to, they are able to start taking a serious look at their finances that much sooner.
If you find a trusted financial advisor that you connect well with, you want to maintain that relationship as long as possible! Even if you need to relocate for a job opportunity or want to be closer to family (or further away from family depending on your circumstances).
Time Zone Differences Can Be Your Friend
I live on the west coast. I have clients all over the country. Being available in the evenings for clients in the eastern and central time zones is extremely convenient for those clients. You want to meet with your financial advisor at 7pm EST? No problem – it’s 4pm PST and I’m still at the office.
I have spoken with several clients that found it difficult to schedule meetings with a local advisor, because it was challenging to meet during normal business hours. The local advisor didn’t want to stay at the office until 8:00 or 9:00 pm. I don’t blame him!
This is a big deal for households where both spouses work and it is hard to coordinate schedules during the day. Also, for households with children, being able to meet with your financial advisor after the kids are in bed is a big plus.
I’m sure it works the other direction too. If you are an early bird on the west coast and prefer to get your stuff done in the morning before work, you could have a 6am or 7am PST meeting with your advisor on the east coast.
As Long as the Trust is There, The Miles Really Don’t Matter
Your next door neighbor could be an excellent financial advisor, but if you don’t trust him, you are not going to work with him. It is important to find a financial advisor you can trust and that works well for your needs. For many people nowadays, schlepping into an office is too much of an inconvenience when the exact same things can be accomplished in an online meeting.
I love meeting with clients in person. But I also embrace the technology. It works well for me as I’m able to maintain relationships with clients that previously would not be possible.
Even if you prefer the in-person meetings, there may come a day when you can’t make it into your advisor’s office, but still want to hold the meeting. Having an advisor that can meet with you online could come in handy.
