In today’s episode, you’ll learn more about:
- What typically happens in a real discovery meeting
- What most people expect vs what actually happens
- How to tell if an advisor is taking a holistic financial planning approach or just focusing on investments
- Real client examples—from families who didn’t know where to start to those who had an advisor but weren’t getting coordinated advice
- The biggest red flags to watch for when meeting with a financial advisor
Listen Now:
The Smart Take:
Most people walk into their first meeting with a financial advisor expecting a presentation—charts, investments, maybe even a pitch.
But a real discovery meeting shouldn’t feel like that at all.
In this episode, we break down what a first meeting with a financial advisor should actually look like, especially for pre-retirees and retirees trying to make important decisions around retirement, taxes, income, and long-term planning.
We’ll give you a clear framework for what a good first meeting should feel like, and how to know if you’re in the right room.
At True Wealth, our discovery meetings are designed to help you organize your full financial picture and identify what actually matters before recommending a path forward.
Go Inside the Episode:
0:00 – Intro
2:35 – Mistake #1: Investing the same way
8:20 – Mistake #2: Ignoring tax planning
9:48 – Mistake #3: No Social Security strategy
12:24 – Mistake #4: Taking on too much risk
16:06 – Mistake #5: Underestimating healthcare costs
19:45 – Final thoughts and planning takeaways
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The Hosts:
Kevin Kroskey, CFP®, MBA – About – Contact
Tyler Emrick, CFA®, CFP® – About – Contact
Episode Transcript:
Tyler Emrick:
Most people walk into their first meeting with a financial advisor expecting a presentation, maybe some charts, investments, maybe even a sales pitch. But if that’s what it turns into, it’s usually not a great sign. So today we want to walk you through what a real first meeting with a financial advisor should actually look like. And more importantly, how to tell if you’re in the right room when you sit down with someone.
Walter Storholt:
And welcome to another edition of Retire Smarter. I’m Walter Storholt alongside Tyler Emrick, of course, certified financial, chartered financial analyst, and one of the wealth advisors at True Wealth Design, and a great topic today where we get to go under the hood of a first visit with a financial advisor and what it’s really supposed to look like. And maybe Tyler, maybe more importantly, what it’s supposed to feel like, right? Because that’s part of this battle is learning to maybe listen to our gut a little bit and what feelings do we get when we meet with an advisor and start this journey?
Tyler Emrick:
Oh, absolutely. Right. And I could imagine some listeners that have never sat down with a planner might be like, “What even happens during this meeting? What should I expect? What should I look like?”
Walter Storholt:
“What do I need to bring?”
Tyler Emrick:
We got you covered. Yeah. “What do I need to bring.” All that type of stuff. So yeah. And as I think about just in general, True Wealth Design and our process, generally speaking, we might have an introductory 20-minute call. I mean, you mentioned it quite a bit on the podcast. We’ve got some longtime listeners here, but-
Walter Storholt:
Click the link in the description and Schedule your time right now.
Tyler Emrick:
You got it. But what happens after that generally would be what we would call a discovery meeting, which inherently just is that first financial planning meeting or first meeting with an advisor. That get to know you. And yeah. That expectation versus reality can be quite a bit different.
Walter Storholt:
Yeah. Well, I think it’s right off the bat, the expectation maybe is a little bit different from reality because you mentioned long-term viewers and listeners, they’ve probably heard us say to schedule that visit, see if you’re a good fit to work with one another, which is not schedule that visit so we can sell you something.
Tyler Emrick:
Correct. Yes.
Walter Storholt:
Or immediately become a client. It’s see if we’re a good fit. So right off the bat, it’s a little bit different maybe than most structures.
Tyler Emrick:
Absolutely. And I think that could be an expectation that I hear quite a bit. Like, hey, heading into that meeting, you’re expecting … Well, another one I hear quite a bit is just the advisor leading and doing most of the conversation. Like you’re sitting in there, you’re in this big table and you’re looking up this screen, maybe going through a PowerPoint deck or something like that.
Walter Storholt:
Like you signed up for a seminar of some sort.
Tyler Emrick:
Correct. Or the timeshare meetings, if you’ve ever gotten one of those. I’ve gone through quite … Actually, I’ve gone through more than those that I’d probably care to admit. But yes. In actuality, those meetings, I’m probably doing the least amount of talking. Certainly, I think the families that come in might rely on me to drive that conversation, ask those questions. But at the end of the day, we’re really there to try to get to know the individual, the family that’s coming in that we’re talking to. Also, another big one I get is talking about investments. Our industry, I think from a financial advisor standpoint, investments like is maybe that core or what a lot of people think of when they think of an advisor. And normally those investment conversations happen a lot further down the road than just that first meeting talking about, “Hey, we got the next best thing since sliced bread here from an investment standpoint.”
Same thing goes for recommendations. A lot of times as well, it’s not like you’re coming out of that meeting saying, “Hey, this is exactly what I think you should do and this is a hard recommendation and this product’s going to solve all of your needs.” The conversation is much, much more going back and forth and trying to understand where you’re coming from, what needs that you have, what are your expectations and how might a company like True Wealth Design fit into those needs. So a lot of times those expectations and the reality of what those meetings look like can be vastly different. So we want to dive into it today. What should that first financial planning meeting or find your first meeting with an advisor look like?
Walter Storholt:
Yeah. Well, you mentioned no portfolio charts immediately up on the screen and presentation graphics and things like that. So that’s a very different opening tone, I think, than maybe a lot of meetings have.
Tyler Emrick:
Correct. Yeah. I think that’s probably … If you think about that first, what are we talking about? Certainly when you come in and you meet with an advisor here at True Wealth Design, you might have your coffee, you’re sitting there, hopefully the sunshine in up here in Northeast Ohio, or we might be doing it virtually. But a lot at the beginning of those meetings is they get to know you and get to know us and trying to understand, “Hey, what brought you in today or what prompted you to reach out for an advisor?” And try to see what that need was or what that is. A lot of families will reach out to us when they get serious about retirement. Hey, retirement might be on the doorstep and they’re saying, “Hey, I got this big life transition coming up and I want some help navigating it.” That is a very common one. Frankly, any type of life transition … Starting a new career or a new job, retirement, changing healthcare, these are big triggering events that get a lot of individuals that maybe haven’t worked with an advisor before to say, “Hey, maybe I should start to talk to someone to see how they might help me through this life transition.” That’s a big one because those bring up concerns and things like that to make sure that everything’s going to be okay.
Walter Storholt:
Got to put the right things under the microscope and make sure that you’re talking and highlighting the right things out of the gate and not focusing on things that should be down the line parts of the conversation.
Tyler Emrick:
Yeah. Absolutely. And some of that might even be us trying to get an understanding of like, “What has been your experience working with an advisor? Who do you work with before? Who’s on your team?”
Walter Storholt:
That’s true. Because preconceived notions or habits or just the way that you thought it was supposed to be originally might influence how you approach the future.
Tyler Emrick:
You got it. Well, and it absolutely will approach what you might be looking for in your upcoming advisor that you want to work for. Where’s the team missing the boat right now? And when you maybe are looking at making a change, it’s very important to understand like, “Well, hey, is a company like True Wealth Design going to be able to meet those expectations and how are they going to meet those expectations?” As I think about the structure of these meetings and that discovery process, it’s very much just, “Well, hey, let’s take a look at what transitions you do have coming up. What decision points that are going to impact your financial life that we need to be aware of. How comfortable do you feel about those?” Social security is a big one. Signing up for Medicare is a big one. All of these things that inherently go with big life transitions and the decisions that you need to make on it. “Hey, can I retire? I’m thinking about it. I want to go here in the next year. Is that possible?”
And then as we have that conversation, it gives the advisor the opportunity to share how they or how a company like True Wealth Design would talk through that or analyze that situation or what decision points will we be focused on and help paint a picture on how we would help you make a decision like a big, “Hey, can I retire?” Well, how would that process look and how will we start to think about it and help break it down to an actual decision and paint that picture so you can make those decisions I think is extremely important. So a lot of that conversation back and forth is understanding those transitions, understanding those decision points, but then also tying it back to, “Well, where are you? What have you done? Where do you stand? How do you feel about where you’re at financially? What concerns do you have? Where do you feel like the areas of opportunity are and where you really feel like you need to hone in some advice from a professional?” And then we can marry that with what we’re seeing through that conversation as well.
So while it is very much a dialogue back and forth as opposed to that old adage we had mentioned before where you’re coming in and the advisor’s almost talking at you saying, “Hey, this is how we solve problems. Whether you like it or not, this is the best way.” It’s much more of that give and take and trying to figure that out.
Speaker 3:
What would your life look like if you designed it around your true wealth? It’s a powerful question and one that True Wealth Design helps individuals, families, and business owners answer every day. With a fully integrated approach to financial planning, tax strategy, investments, and business advisory, their team can bring clarity and confidence to every part of your financial life. Take the first step toward a stronger financial future with a no cost, no obligation discovery meeting. Just click the link in today’s show description to get started.
Walter Storholt:
Makes a lot of sense. Do you find that people have … What brings people in to begin with? Is it usually some pressing need and it’s like, “Oh, I’ve got a specific question about X,” and then that leads to the larger conversations, or do people walk in and they just turn their hands out and say, “I don’t know what I should be doing. Lead me.”
Tyler Emrick:
Hey, it covers the whole spectrum. I could think back to, there’s a client that I’ve been working with for a number of years. And this whole discovery meeting, first initial meeting process, it’s always been something that we’ve done. And I’ll never forget when they came in for their first one and we were getting to know each other and I was like, “Hey, what brings you in today?” And they’re like, “Well, I was talking to someone and they said I should have a financial advisor. So I just want to know, should I have a financial advisor?” And they were very forthcoming upfront saying, “Hey, we don’t really know what we don’t know.”
Walter Storholt:
This isn’t something I’ve been planning to come in and do. This is just like, “Well, maybe I should do this. Let me explore.”
Tyler Emrick:
Correct. They had actually already been retired for a year, like I talked to before. Most families are coming to us maybe right before a big life transition, but not everyone. They had already retired, they were in great shape financially and they were really just trying to wrap their arms around, what is it like working with an advisor? What would we expect out of them? What are the fees? What does the meeting cadence look like and what should we expect if we were to work with you? And that was very much how that first meeting was. They didn’t have any type of, “Hey, we need help with social security. Hey, we need help with taxes. We need help with Medicare.” Any of that type of stuff. It was much more of a broad spectrum and saying, “Hey, how can you help me?”
Walter Storholt:
That’s unique because you mentioned at the very beginning of the show, okay, expectation, reality, expectation, reality, they just had no expectations.
Tyler Emrick:
None. Not at all. I’m actually so glad that they came in and actually were … I don’t know if it was a friend that told them that, but I thank that friend for doing it. We’ve had a great relationship over the last handful of years that we’ve worked together. But they just took a leap and we’re just trying to understand for themselves what it would be like working with someone. But to your point, there are other case scenarios. I have another family pops into mind. This was a family I had actually met with a handful of years ago and we had had a meeting, they had had some questions around retirement. They were actually transitioning right into retirement. So we had covered some of those questions. And at the time, they were actually working with an advisor, Walt that was a family member. Or excuse me, not a family member, but a very, very close friend of the family.
Walter Storholt:
Gotcha.
Tyler Emrick:
And we decided saying, “Hey, you’re in pretty good shape” and they decided not to necessarily work with me at that particular point in time. And then a few years had passed and just recently, about a year ago, they had set up another meeting with me. I’m like, “Oh, hey.” I remember the name. It was great. They’d set up another discovery meeting. We’d come back and what had prompted them is it was tax time and they had got a little bit of a surprise bill at tax time. And it really made them think “Why am I getting a surprise tax bill? My advisor, why are they not helping me with that?” And during that meeting, we were just kind of talking about that relationship and back and forth. And it was the old adage of like, “Hey, every time that they came in, they would look at charts. They talked about investments. Hey, look at all these great things that we’re doing investments.” But they had never talked once about their tax situation.
They had had a couple life insurance policies and an annuity as well. And they’re like, they’ve never looked into those policies. And through our discovery meeting, I was checking in, seeing how they were doing. They told me, “Hey, taxes were a big reason why they came in. They wanted to just check back and maybe explore a relationship.” And then through that conversation, I was like, “Oh, you got insurance policies. How are you using them? What are they used for?” “I don’t know. I’ve been paying the premium for a long period of time. Should we do something with those?” “Well, hey, this is how we think about it within the framework of your plan.” I walked them through how we think about deciding, do you need insurance or not? And then how we would analyze the policies. And they’re like, “We didn’t even talk about it.” Frankly, I’ll never forget, they made a comment at the end of the meeting and said, “We didn’t really talk about investments once during this discovery meeting.” I was like, “Well, one, it seemed like there were other things that were very important to you.” Not that investments aren’t, but all these other things they had through our conversation and they knew it as well we’re like, “I don’t know if we’re getting everything that we need to from the advisor that we’re working with.” And you know how hard it is to make a switch from-
Walter Storholt:
It probably started a chain reaction. You uncover the tax issue and then it leads to this and then that.
Tyler Emrick:
Because it’s all intertwined, right? And that’s a hard choice to make, especially when you’re working with a family friend that you’ve worked with for a number of years.
Walter Storholt:
Yeah. Realizing the problem is step one and then addressing it becomes another conversation, right?
Tyler Emrick:
Oh, you got it. You got it. No. Absolutely. So their discovery meeting was very different than the first family that we had talked about that came in and really was like, “Hey, I’m starting from square one here. How can you help me deal?” So wherever you’re at in your financial journey … I think that first meeting with an advisor you’re considering to work with is very much of like, “Hey, trying to understand is this person going to be right fit for us? Do they have the same values and philosophy as us?” And let’s not forget, what is a very clear path forward, like should we start to work together? What we don’t want to have happen on those first meetings is like, “Hey, I got this product that’s going to solve all your problems.” Or, “Hey, you need to be invested this way.” That whole maybe providing the solution before understanding the family, right? That’s much, much more in the realm of on the firm and the advisor’s time and what they’re trying to accomplish. I think these first meetings should be very much more about what the client, the individual, the family is trying to accomplish and then how the firm can kind of fit into that. And how wait, is there other areas of opportunity that come up during that conversation. Very different, I think, atmosphere and conversation.
Walter Storholt:
You mentioned in the beginning of the show, how to tell if you’re in the right room, which I loved that phrasing because that gets to that feeling of, “Okay, this feels right. This is where I’m supposed to be.” How do you do that? How do you tell if you’re in the right room?
Tyler Emrick:
Yeah. I think a couple of things I would hope that when I meet with a client or a family or individual after those discovery meetings, one, that they have a little clearer understanding of just their financial picture in general. A clear understanding of where there is of opportunity are and what they’re doing good and some of the decisions that they have coming up. I also think that it’s important that they feel like they were heard during the meeting and whatever those concerns were, they were maybe not fully addressed, but there’s a clear path and solution as to how we’re going to solve that. And they can understand that and have confidence in that. And the third one I think is just a better sense of like, well, what decisions do they have coming up? Hey, “What is it like working with this advisor? What is the fee structure? How are they going to help me with the concerns that I’ve had? How many meetings are we going to have over the next year? What happens if this particular thing comes up that’s very important in my situation?” So that clear defined next step, I think is certainly something to watch out for.
And those red flags, they’re very easy, right? Hey, if you’re getting a recommendation on the very first meeting that you’re meeting with an advisor and you haven’t had any type of conversation, well then, hey, that might be a red flag. If the conversation was very surface level, was very much geared towards maybe what you didn’t come in there for and you got pushed in a completely different direction … No discussion of taxes or income or healthcare or priorities or goals or any of that type of stuff, I think those are kind of those red flags to look out for. And frankly, Walt, working with an advisor is very much a relationship. So if you get out of there and you feel like you were just pitched something, that’s probably your biggest red flag, right? That you’re maybe not working with someone that’s going to be a partner with you through the long haul.
Walter Storholt:
Well, it makes my job very easy to wrap this one up, Tyler. This is what the 20-minute discovery call looks and feels like. And so if you’d like to experience that and go through that 20-minute conversation with an experienced advisor on the team, all you have to do is go to truewealthdesign.com and click the Let’s Talk button and you can schedule that time to meet. We’ve also got a link directly in the description of today’s show to make that easy for you as well. See if you’re a good fit to work with one another. Again, truewealthdesign.com or just look for the link in the description of today’s show. And it’s easy to set that time up to visit, whether it’s in person in the office in Northeast Ohio or remotely from wherever you are. I know you meet with clients all over the country, Tyler, so it’s very easy to schedule wherever you are and great breakdown. And I think it’s an easy feeling to look for if we’re evaluating maybe a current financial advisor relationship or looking to go into one for the first time. Wherever your starting point is, a couple of great clues to look for that you’re working with the right advisor and that you’re in the right room. I love that description. So fantastic.
Tyler Emrick:
You got it.
Walter Storholt:
Thanks for the help. And we’ll be diving into more conversations about what it’s like to go through the planning process here on the channel. In fact, can I tease the next episode, Tyler?
Tyler Emrick:
Sure. Absolutely.
Walter Storholt:
I don’t normally tease what’s coming up next, but we’re going to talk more about what the plan should actually look like, what it should do, and what most plans miss when you’re not in the right room or not working with an advisor who’s a great fit for you. So we’ll dive more specifically into that next step and the plan on our next episode. So come back and check us out for that. For Tyler, I’m Walter. We’ll see you next time right back here on Retire Smarter.
Speaker 4:
Information provided is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment tax or legal advice. Information is obtained from sources that are deemed to be reliable, but their accurateness and completeness cannot be guaranteed. All performance reference is historical and not an indication of future results. Benchmark indices are hypothetical and do not include any investment fees.